"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.
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German writer Hubert Seipel arrive at the New Era of Journalism: Farewell to Mainstream International Multimedia Fourum in Moscow, Russia, on June 7, 2016. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Hubert Seipel, an influential German writer and filmmaker, received at least 600,000 euros ($652,000) in secret offshore payments from companies linked to an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Guardian reported on Nov. 14, citing leaked files.
Seipel, who has long been seen as one of Germany’s top independent experts on Russia, reportedly received the money in installments, which the documents suggest was to support his work on two books about Putin, deemed by many as sympathetic to the Russian president.
According to the Guardian, the money was paid from accounts connected to Alexei Mordashov, a Russian steel and banking magnate, sanctioned following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The European Union described the billionaire as “benefiting from his links with Russian decision-makers.”
The payments to Seipel went through a British Virgin Islands (BVI)-registered company called De Vere Worldwide Corp, owned by a top manager in Mordashov’s Severstal group, showed the offshore records leaked as part of the Cyprus Confidential project and shared with the Guardian.
Seipel admitted to the media outlet that his books were financed by Mordashov but insisted he remained impartial in his work. “I always set clear legal boundaries that guaranteed my independence.”
Seipel’s books — a 2015 biography called Putin: Inner Views of Power and a 2021 title, Putin’s Power: Why Europe Needs Russia — reportedly became bestsellers, with tens of thousands of copies sold.
For his award-winning 2012 documentary I Putin – a Portrait, Seipel received exclusive access to the Russian leader, traveling with him across Russia.
One of the few journalists in the world to have direct and regular contact with Putin, Seipel said he has met him“nearly 100 times,” as cited by the Guardian.
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
Daniil Ukhorskiy
