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. Air Force F-16 fighter jets fly in formation during U.S.-Philippines joint air force exercises dubbed Cope Thunder at Clark Air Base on May 9, 2023, in Mabalacat, Philippines. (Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
Ukraine could field F-16 fighter jets at the end of the spring of 2024 in the "best-case scenario," Oleksandra Ustinova, head of the Holos (Voice) parliamentary faction, said in an interview with European Pravda published on Nov. 22.
First Ukrainian pilots are expected to complete their F-16 training by the end of 2023, but these numbers would not be sufficient, and most aviators are still learning, said Ustinova, who has actively lobbied for Ukraine aid in the U.S.
Ukraine is also trying to have the pledged F-16s modernized, mainly in terms of their weaponry and radars.
"After all, giving us aircraft with a radar range of 60 kilometers like a MiG does not make sense," Ustinova said.
"Therefore, international partners and our Defense Ministry are actively working on this issue. If we achieve this, it could become one of the game-changers of the next year."
Modernized F-16 jets could allow the Ukrainian military to detect Russian planes carrying KAB bombs, the lawmaker said. Russia regularly uses this weaponry in air raids against Ukrainian civilian targets, particularly in Kherson Oblast.
A coalition of international partners officially formed in July agreed to assist Ukraine with training its pilots on F-16 fighter jets. Lessons for Ukrainian aviators are underway in Denmark and the U.S., and a training center was recently opened in Romania.
The Washington Post reported that according to official estimates, Ukrainian pilots would be ready to fly F-16s no earlier than summer 2024.
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.
