"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
Russia's Kommuna salvage ship in a picture dated July 18, 2009. (George Chernilevsky/Wikimedia Commons)
Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Navy, told the Liga media outlet on April 21 that the navy had struck a ship in occupied Sevastopol and confirmed that it was the Kommuna, a salvage ship. The extent of the damage to the ship is unclear at the time of this publication.
Earlier in the day, the Russian proxy official Mikhail Razvozhayev claimed an anti-ship missile had been "repelled" in occupied Sevastopol and that "fragments caused a small fire, which was quickly extinguished.
Unverified video posted to social media appeared to show a Russian naval vessel on fire and local media reported the Crimea bridge had been closed.
The Kommuna was launched in 1915 and is the oldest ship still in service in the Russian Navy.
Sevastopol is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and is frequently targeted by Ukrainian missile and sea drone strikes.
Pletenchuk said on March 30 that Russia had withdrawn nearly all its major ships from ports in occupied Crimea following successful Ukrainian strikes.
To prevent further Ukrainian drone strikes on the Black Sea fleet, Russian forces in occupied Crimea are constructing barriers at the entrance to Sevastopol Bay, the partisan group Atesh reported on March 27.
Russia is also trying to strengthen the defense of its Novorossiysk port, where Moscow had begun redeploying its Black Sea fleet from Sevastopol last year, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its daily update on March 31.
Andrii Kharuk
