"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
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.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
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.
A screenshot from a video presumably showing a family member holding one of the children returned from Russian-occupied territories by the NGO Save Ukraine on Sept. 12, 2023. (Save Ukraine/Facebook)
The NGO Save Ukraine has arranged the return of 13 more children from occupied parts of Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts to their relatives in the Kyiv-controlled territory.
The 11th rescue mission brings the total number of children returned by the organization to 176, Save Ukraine reported on Sept. 12.
The NGO revealed some details of the children’s stories in its Facebook post.
“Mother hid Olesia from the occupation authorities and other residents for a whole year so that no one would find out that the girl lived with her and force her to study at a Russian school,” the organization wrote.
“The divorced parents of Polina, Taras, and Matvii took different positions after the start of the full-scale war — mom was supporting Ukraine while dad became pro-Russian. And it was the father who banned the mother from taking the children out of Russian-controlled territory," reads another story.
"There, during the occupation, children were forced to go to a Russian school, and they (occupation authorities) threatened to deprive their mother of her parental rights.”
Save Ukraine has helped people fleeing war zones since 2014. Over the past year, it launched a program to return children forcibly transferred by Russia back to Ukraine.
More than 19,500 children have been identified by the Ukrainian government as having been deported. Almost 400 of them have been brought back to Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin for their involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
Daria Shulzhenko
