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."
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.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks at a daily news conference at the White House on May 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Ukrainian troops may use U.S. weapons to strike targets within Russia wherever Russian forces launch cross-border assaults on Ukrainian territory, not just near the Kharkiv Oblast border, U.S. officials confirmed to Politico on June 20.
The officials denied that this was a substantive policy change from U.S. President Joe Biden's statement granting Ukraine permission to use American weapons in Russia "solely near the area of Kharkiv."
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told PBS News on June 17 that Ukraine is allowed to strike "anywhere that Russian forces are coming across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory."
Sullivan said that if Moscow launched an offensive against Sumy Oblast, Kyiv would have permission to use U.S. arms to strike inside Russia near the Sumy border.
Two U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, told Politico that the announcement does not reflect a shift in policy. Washington's original permission to fire across the border came in the context of Russia's offensive against Kharkiv Oblast but did not preclude responding to cross-border attacks in other regions, the officials said.
The officials also emphasized that the policy prohibiting Ukraine from launching long-range strikes with U.S. weapons inside Russian territory "has not changed."
Sullivan said the U.S. position on the matter "is not about geography."
"It's about common sense," he said.
"If Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, it only makes sense to allow Ukraine to hit back against the forces that are hitting it from across the border."
Previous statements on the matter from U.S. officials, including Biden, have stressed that the permission only extends to Russian positions near Kharkiv Oblast.
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.
Chris York
