"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
Hungary cancelled a meeting planned for May 12 with a Ukrainian delegation on the rights of national minorities, Hungary's Deputy Foreign Minister said on May 11, amid a deepening spying scandal between the two countries.
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
Farmers inspect unsold grain stores on a farm in Sędziejowice, Poland, on Monday, April 17, 2023. (Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
After nearly two weeks of negotiations, five EU countries finally "reached a political agreement" with the European Commission on Ukrainian grain imports to the EU, the European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis announced on April 28.
"I'm glad to announce that we have reached a political agreement concerning Ukrainian agri-food imports in the EU. We've agreed with the five neighboring EU member states and Ukraine on how we'll tackle the situation," Dombrovskis said.
Earlier, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia have all taken steps to suspend the import of Ukrainian grain and other products to protect their domestic markets. According to Politico, Romania joined the four countries in calling for "preventative measures" without imposing its own restrictions.
As announced earlier, the European Commission will propose "emergency safeguard measures" for wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds, according to Dombrovskis. He also said they will "put forward safeguard investigations into several other products."
The five EU countries will also receive 100 million euros in support package from EU funds to compensate farmers, according to Dombrovskis.
"In return, the neighboring member states will withdraw their unilateral measures. So we have a solution addressing both farmers in the neighboring member states and of Ukraine," he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed the agreement.
"I welcome the agreement in principle found on the transit of 4 types of Ukrainian grain and seeds. A deal that preserves both Ukraine's exports capacity so it continues feeding the world and our farmers' livelihoods," she wrote on Twitter.
Cheap Ukrainian grain has been flooding the EU market since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, helped by the European Union waiving customs duties and import quotas to keep Ukraine's agricultural sector running.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Alexander Query
