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.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
A view of the shallow Dnipro River placed near the destructed Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in Beryslav city of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, on June 26, 2023. (Photo for illustrative purposes) (Svitlana Horieva/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian forces struck Beryslav in Kherson Oblast on the morning of Nov. 23, killing an elderly civilian, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
The 70-year-old man was cycling down the street at the time of the attack, according to Prokudin.
Beryslav, with a pre-war population of 12,000 lying around 60 kilometers east of Kherson, was for a time occupied by Russian forces until its liberation in Ukraine's fall offensive last year.
Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River, such as Beryslav, in November 2022.
Russian forces were pushed to the east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories, regularly resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.
A Russian attack on Nov. 23 wounded a 51-year-old woman in Kherson Oblast’s village of Antonivka, Prokudin said earlier.
Kate Tsurkan
