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.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing, China, on April 9, 2024. (Russian Foreign Ministry/Telegram)
Russia and China have discussed ways to strengthen their cooperation in Europe and Asia in order to counter the U.S. hegemony, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on April 9 in Beijing.
The chief of Russia's diplomacy arrived in China on April 8 for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to discuss Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine and other topics of common interest.
Beijing has maintained close ties with Moscow during the war, increasing economic cooperation and disrupting Western attempts at isolating Russia.
The West has remained suspicious of China's partnership with Russia while at the same time appealing to Beijing to use its influence and sway Moscow toward ending the war against Ukraine.
"For a long time, NATO represented a security structure in the Euro-Atlantic region, as well as the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), but it struck itself out from the list of relevant structures," Lavrov said during a joint press conference with Wang.
Wang commented that Moscow and Beijing should work to counter "hegemonism" and "any 'small circle' that engages in bloc confrontation."
Lavrov also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his two-day trip, the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
The Chinese leader relayed his greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that "Putin and I have agreed to continue to maintain close exchanges to ensure the smooth and steady development of China-Russia relations."
Reuters reported that, according to its sources, Putin is expected to visit China in May to meet Xi.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Kateryna Denisova
