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.
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.
Ukrainian servicemen fire with a French-made CAESAR self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on Dec. 28, 2022. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)
France has committed more than 3.8 billion euros ($4.1 billion) in security assistance to Ukraine between Feb. 24, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2023, including 2.615 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in military equipment and a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) donation to the European Peace Facility (EFF), the French Defense Ministry announced on March 3.
Although France has committed a comparably smaller portion of its GDP than countries like Germany or Poland, French President Emmanuel Macron has recently called for more decisive steps in support of Ukraine, even not ruling out sending troops to the besieged country.
France has also supplied Ukraine with several air defense systems, including SAMP/T (one unit), Mistral (six units), and Crotale (two units), as well as an unidentified amount of missiles for these systems.
Ukrainian forces further received 1.1 million small ammunition rounds, some 1.74 million 12.7 mm cartridges, 30,000 155 mm artillery shells, and over 1,000 AT4 anti-tank launchers.
Other items include various vehicles, grenades, small arms, medical aid, technical equipment, fuel, body armor, and more.
Separate from the overall $4.1 billion sum, the French military has also helped train almost 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in France and Poland.
Macron and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed an agreement on Feb. 16 on a long-term security cooperation between the two countries, under which Paris pledged 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in military aid this year.
France also announced a new defense aid package, including artillery shells, Caesar howitzers, and air defenses.
European defense assistance is all the more crucial for Ukraine as $60 billion in aid from the U.S., a key military donor, remains stuck in Congress due to opposition from parts of the Republican Party.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Alexander Khrebet
