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.
A painting glorifying Russia's army depicting a Russian soldier in front of the 'Z' used by the Kremlin as a symbol of its forces since the beginning of the invasion on Feb. 24. (Illustrative purposes only) (Alexander Query/ The Kyiv Independent)
Russian authorities in occupied parts of Luhansk Oblast had ordered the creation of propaganda centers posing as "museums of the special military operation (a Russian term for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine)," Governor Artem Lysohor said on Jan. 6.
Russia has occupied parts of Luhansk Oblast, including its regional center, since 2014. Following the start of the all-out war, Moscow's troops seized the majority of the region.
These propaganda places will exhibit Russian military equipment and glorify local collaborationists, Lysohor said. This is meant to strengthen the myth of popular support for Russian occupation among local youth.
Such an exhibition had recently been opened in a history museum in Svatove, the governor noted.
Propaganda and indoctrination is one of the methods employed by the Kremlin to integrate occupied territories of Ukraine.
Mimicking the tactics used during the occupation of Crimea and Donbas in 2014, Russian authorities are seeking to curb access to outside information and organize propaganda events also in newly conquered areas of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.
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
