"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"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.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 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.
"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.
The aftermath of a Russian strike that hit the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant on Aug. 26, 2024. Screenshot from video. (Timofiy Mylovanov/X)
A dam in Kyiv, part of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, was struck during a massive Russian attack across Ukraine on Aug. 26, Timofiy Mylovanov, an advisor at the President's Office, said.
Russia used at least 100 missiles and 100 drones in a wide-scale attack across the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. At least four people have been killed and eight were injured as of the time of this publication.
"If the dam were to collapse, a significant portion of Kyiv would be flooded," Mylovanov said.
At the same time, there is conflicting information about the strike on the plant and the resulting damage.
Forbes Ukraine wrote, citing an energy official who remained anonymous because he was not authorized to speak about the attack, that the plant had been targeted.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of an anti-disinformation department at the National Security and Defense Council, then said that there was "no threat" to the dam and that "it is impossible to destroy it with missiles."
Russians are using perceived threats to the dam's structural integrity to "incite panic," Kovalenko added.
The Russian morning attack struck the Kyiv hydro dam. While the dam holds, the hydro power plant appears to be damaged. If the dam were to collapse, a significant portion of Kyiv would be floodedpic.twitter.com/tGRVP62LhD
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry denied Zakharova's accusations, calling them "absurd."
"There can be no realistic purpose or motive for Ukraine to destroy its own infrastructure or endanger its own people," the ministry said at the time.
Zakharova's statement came slightly over a year since Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and the adjacent dam in Kherson Oblast, causing a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Chris York
