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.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
Firefighters working on the site of a Russian attack on Kharkiv on March 22, 2024. Photo for illustrative purposes. (State Emergency Service/Telegram)
Firefighters in Lviv Oblast extinguished a fire at an infrastructure facility after a grueling battle against the blaze that lasted for hours, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported on March 24.
According to Kozytskyi, 61 firefighters worked from early morning until after 5 p.m. local time to put out the fire.
The facility was hit by missiles and drones several times during Russia's latest widespread attack in the early hours of March 24.
Russian forces fired 29 cruise missiles and 28 Shahed drones mainly targeting critical infrastructure in eight regions in the west, center, north, and south of Ukraine, the Air Force said.
Kozytskyi reported the fire at 7.38 a.m. local time writing on his Telegram channel that no injuries were reported.
Russia launched a second attack on Lviv Oblast at 9.30 a.m. with Kinzhal air-launched missiles, according to Kozytskyi.
Two hits were recorded at the critical infrastructure site, but the firefighters already on site due to the first attack were evacuated to a safe space on time, he added.
The Air Force branch in charge of western Ukraine reported shooting down eight of the 19 cruise missiles fired, as well as all seven Shahed drones.
In total, 18 cruise missiles and 25 Shahed drones were intercepted by the air defense across Ukraine.
The winter of 2023-2024 spelled yet another wave of massive strikes, but the resulting energy disruptions have not reached the scale of those in late 2022 and early 2023 as Russia's attacks this year have for the most part failed to disrupt en masse the country's power grid.
Dominic is the business reporter for the Kyiv Independent. He has written for a number of publications including the Financial Times, bne IntelliNews, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, Euronews and New Eastern Europe. Previously, Dominic worked with StopFake as a disinformation expert, debunking Russian fake news in Europe.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
