Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
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.
A view of the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant in the town of Avdiivka in the Russian-controlled part of Donetsk Oblast on Feb. 19, 2024. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
The Russian military pledged to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the Zenit strongpoint in the town of Avdiivka and provide them with assistance but instead shot five of the soldiers, Ukraine’s 110th Brigade said on Feb. 19.
The confirmation came after media reports that relatives identified the dead bodies of three soldiers of the brigade. They were left behind heavily wounded, while the rest of the forces retreated from the strongpoint, according to the reports.
The brigade said in a statement that several seriously injured and killed servicemen could not be evacuated due to continuous bombardment and the complete encirclement of Zenit.
The brigade said that Ukrainian forces had contacted organizations negotiating with Russia on prisoner exchanges to provide assistance to wounded, unarmed Ukrainian soldiers.
“The enemy informed the coordinators of this process that they agreed to evacuate our wounded, provide them with assistance, and exchange them later. Our soldiers were ordered to save their lives,” the brigade wrote on Facebook, saying that Russian troops broke their promise and shot Ukrainian soldiers.
According to Ukraine’s 110th Brigade, among the executed were Andrii Dubnytskyi, Ivan Zhyntnyk, Heorhii Pavlov, Oleksandr Zinchuk and Mykola Savosik. Information on the fate of a sixth soldier has not yet been confirmed.
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi announced the decision to withdraw Ukrainian units from Avdiivka, an embattled city just north of Russian-occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, on the night of Feb. 17.
Two days later, Maksym Zhorin, a deputy commander of Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade, said that some units of the brigade had been "completely surrounded" in Avdiivka but had managed to escape before Russian forces totally captured the town.
Russian forces have been trying to capture Avdiivka since 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine. Following Russia's recent assault on the city, which started in October last year, most of Avdiivka has been destroyed by urban warfare, artillery barrages, and airstrikes.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Igor Kossov
