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.
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.
Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, June 2, 2023. (Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images)
Russian authorities are preparing the evacuation of children from Belgorod Oblast to other regions, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on Jan. 9 following an alleged evening attack by Ukraine.
Late on Jan. 8, Gladkov claimed that Russian air defenses downed 10 aerial targets over Belgorod, resulting in three people injured by falling debris.
Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the purported strike, which came the same day as Russia launched a large-scale missile attack against Ukraine.
All the injured are in intensive care units and have undergone surgery, Gladkov claimed on his Telegram channel.
The Belgorod Oblast governor said he agreed to relocate children to other oblasts with his counterparts in the Voronezh, Yaroslavl, Kaluga, and Tambov regions. He had also discussed the matter with the governors of the Lipetsk, Tula, and Penza oblasts.
The authorities are now preparing evacuation groups, and teachers may be sent to accompany the children for all three weeks of their stay in camps, Gladkov said.
Regional authorities in Belgorod Oblast, bordering Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts, often claim strikes by Ukrainian forces.
A Dec. 30 attack on Belgorod allegedly killed 25 people and injured over 100. Ukraine did not claim responsibility.
Several Ukrainian media outlets reportedthat Ukrainian forces struck military facilities in Belgorod on Dec. 30, citing anonymous sources in Ukraine's intelligence services.
Debris from the used weapons fell in the city center "due to unprofessional actions of the Russian air defense," according to the sources.
Gladkov claimedon Jan. 5 that the authorities have started moving residents out of Belgorod to towns to the north, further away from the border with Ukraine.
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.
Dinara Khalilova
