"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"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."
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery on Russian positions on the front-line city of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, on July 27, 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian forces "have marginally advanced" near Avdiivka, although the pace of the assault on the front-line city has slowed, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on Oct. 16.
Citing geolocated footage, the ISW reported that Russian troops advanced three kilometers south of Avdiivka. However, reports from the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces indicate that Russian troops launched fewer overall attacks in the area than in previous days.
The ISW also said that Russian forces were increasing "the intensity of air and artillery strikes on the settlement in order to compensate for slow ground maneuvers," according to Russian sources.
On Oct. 15, the ISW wrote that the pace of Russian operations near Avdiivka was "likely decreasing."
Russian forces launched a major assault on the battleground city of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast on Oct. 10. Heavy Ukrainian defenses and minefields around the city prevented a swift breakthrough, and Russian units incurred heavy losses in the first days of fighting.
The offensive may be intended to pull Ukrainian troops from other key areas of the front, particularly near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
The ISW reported that Ukrainian offensive operations continued in these areas on Oct. 16.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
