Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
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.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is seen on the screen during his legal appeal against his nine-year prison sentence, in Moscow's City Court, on May 24, 2022, in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny’s team issued a statement on Feb. 20 calling for the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders and the payment of reparations by Moscow, independent Russian media outlet Meduza reported.
“What are the borders of Ukraine? The same as in Russia – internationally recognized, defined in 1991,” the statement said. “Russia must recognize these borders even now. There is nothing to discuss.”
The restoration of Ukraine’s borders, as defined in 1991, would include the return of Crimea to Ukraine, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Navalny’s statement contradicts his previous position regarding Crimea. In 2014, he falsely claimed that the peninsula is “de-facto"Russian. When asked about Crimea at the time, he added that it is not just a “sausage sandwich to pass back and forth,” implying that it would not be returned to Ukraine.
Navalny's current statement, comprised of 15 points, also called for the payment of reparations by Russia to Ukraine for its full-scale war.
“Let me re-emphasize that we will have to reimburse Ukraine for all the damage caused by Putin’s aggression after the war,” he said. “However, the restoration of normal economic relations with the civilized world and the return of economic growth will allow us to do so without interfering with the development of our country.”
Navalny noted that “Russia is suffering a military defeat” in Ukraine, adding that the “lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been senselessly ruined.”
Navalny was poisoned with Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in August 2020, a move which is confirmed to have been executed by Moscow.
Teah Pelechaty is the opinion editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is also a co-editor of Belarus Weekly, the Kyiv Independent's weekly update on current affairs in Belarus. She received a master’s degree in Global Affairs with a specialization in Global Security and Digital Governance at the University of Toronto and Sciences Po. She was previously a junior policy analyst in national security at the Government of Canada and a research associate with the European Values Center for Security Policy and the Atlantic Council.
