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.
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.
A Bayraktar TB2 on display at the Lithuanian Air Force base in Siauliai, Lithuania on July 6, 2022, acquired for Ukraine thanks to a Lithuanian crowdfunding program. (Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty Images)
The Turkish company Baykar has already started constructing a factory in Ukraine to produce Bayraktar drones, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said on July 10, as cited by Hromadske news outlet.
"This is the same large plant for Bayraktars, which was negotiated several years ago… We have moved on to real steps," Kamyshin said on national television.
Baykar received licenses to manufacture combat drones in Ukraine on June 22. According to the company's CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, the production of drones is set to begin in 2025, and the total investment into the project would amount to around $95 million.
Kyiv and Ankara signed the deal on opening a Baykar factory in Ukraine last February, before Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukraine's parliament ratified the agreement on Dec. 13, 2022.
According to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, the drones produced at the plant will be equipped with Ukrainian-made engines, and the facility will also include a training center for Ukrainian pilots.
Bayraktar is a Turkish strike operational-tactical medium-altitude drone with a long flight duration, which Turkey has been supplying to Ukraine for the past few years.
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
Martin Fornusek
