The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
Maksym Timchenko, CEO of Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK, attends the Redefining Ukraine's Energy Future panel during the Ukraine Gas Investment Congress in Kyiv on Oct. 20, 2021. (Yevhen Kotenko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, will finish drilling its first oil well in Poltava Oblast by the end of its month, the company's CEO Maksym Timchenko announced at a press conference on Oct. 11.
This is the first time the company will produce oil, Timchenko said, adding that "all the infrastructure for this is being created so that we become a player in the oil market."
The company also plans to start refining oil, but wants to use the latest technology and is therefore unlikely to purchase existing oil refineries in Ukraine, according to Timchenko.
DTEK's expansion into oil drilling and refining is part of a wider trend in Ukraine's energy sector of striving for energy security and independence.
Oil refineries, along with other energy production facilities, are often targeted by Russian strikes.
Russian forces are expected to increase their targets of critical energy infrastructure as the country moves into winter.
On Oct. 2, Russia attacked DTEK warehouses in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, causing damage to cables, transformers, and other electrical equipment, the company said on Telegram.
The company did not specify the extent of the damage, nor the time and resources it would require to repair it.
"No matter how hard the enemy tries," DTEK wrote, "they will not be able to disrupt our preparations for the winter season."
Earlier on Oct. 2, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized the need for Ukraine's allies to increase the strength of a "winter protection umbrella" in order to alleviate the disruptions associated with the Russian military's attacks on Ukrainian critical infrastructure.
Alexander Query
