The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
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.
New Russian army conscripts attend a ceremony on May 23, 2023. (Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)
A mobilized Russian soldier from the Siberian republic of Buryatia was sentenced to five years in prison on desertion charges after he purchased a forged death certificate in order to avoid returning to fight in Ukraine, RFE/RL's Siberian Service reported on Nov. 24, citing court documents.
The soldier, Zorigto Arabzhaev, was mobilized in November 2022 and deployed to Ukraine, and when spring came, he was granted leave. While back home, he obtained a fake death certificate, which his son showed to authorities, who came looking for him when he did not return to his unit.
Arabzhaev said in court that he did not want to return to the front in part because of his wife's emotional state. Immediately prior to his deployment, their eldest son died in an accident, and Arabzhaev's wife said she would commit suicide if he returned to Ukraine.
Desertion from military units is often punished with prison terms, although Russian courts have at times given suspended sentences. According to a Russian military lawyer who spoke to RFE/RL, the suspended sentence may used in order to send those convicted of desertion back to the front.
Buryatia, one of the poorest regions of Russia, has also disproportionately seen its men fight and die in 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.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
