"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.
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.
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.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"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.
A pillar of smoke purportedly rises above the Ural military plant in Solikamsk in Russia’s Perm Krai following an alleged explosion at the plant on Oct. 31, 2023. The Kyiv Independent couldn’t verify the veracity or location of the photo. (Baza/Telegram)
An explosion occurred at one of Russia's largest military plants in the Perm Krai, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported on Oct. 31, citing emergency services.
The Ural factory, located in the town of Solikamsk, produces explosives for ammunition and small arms, among other things.
There were allegedly no people on the plant's territory at the time of the explosion, and the facility renewed its work shortly after, the enterprise's spokesperson told RIA Novosti.
The regional authorities said, as cited by RIA Novosti, that the explosions posed no threat to the civilian population of Solikamsk.
Meanwhile, Russian Telegram channel Baza cited Solikamsk residents saying that a pillar of smoke was seen over the plant and windows were shattered in some houses.
These claims couldn't be independently verified.
The Ural factory belongs to the Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, which has been sanctioned by Ukraine, the U.K., the EU, the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
Solikamsk lies in western Russia, some 2,000 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, partisans have targeted military, logistics, and infrastructure sites inside Russia.
Igor Kossov
