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."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony in Moscow, Russia, on June 12, 2023. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin reportedly failed to respond promptly to the Wagner Group’s June 24 rebellion, leaving local Russian officials to make decisions concerning the group’s drive on Moscow, the Institute for the Study of War reported in its latest update.
The ISW cited a Washington Post report which suggested that Putin chose not to issue orders for most of June 24 despite warnings from Russian security services about a potential rebellion at least two or three days beforehand. As a result, regional Russian officials were forced to decide how to respond to the rebellion without direct instruction from the Kremlin. Many local security and military officials then decided not to stop Wagner convoys.
The failure to respond could also reveal Putin's inability to rally the Russian elite.
"Putin’s failure to act quickly also suggests that he is uncertain about his ability to rally the Russian elite around him and may indicate how factional internal Kremlin politics have become," the ISW said . "A senior NATO official reportedly stated that unspecified senior Russian political figures in Moscow appeared ready to rally behind Prigozhin in the event that Wagner’s rebellion succeeded."
The Russian security agency was not prepared for a direct challenge to Russia's existing military leadership structures and likely did not have the capacity to respond effectively.
Additionally, the ISW stated that Ukrainian forces have continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front. The Ukranian military made "tactically significant" gains south of Klishchiivka, or 7km southwest of Bakhmut. Ukraine's forces conducted offensive operations in Bakhmut, Melitopol, and Berdyansk directions.
Earlier today, Ukraine's General Staff reported that Russian forces retreated from their positions in Andriivka to the south of Bakhmut following a Ukrainian offensive operation on July 25.
Rachel Amran is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked on the Europe and Central Asia team of Human Rights Watch investigating war crimes in Ukraine. Rachel holds a master's degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Regional Studies from Columbia University.
Alexander Khrebet
