The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Outgoing Rivne Oblast Governor Vitalii Koval, newly appointed as the head of the State Property Fund. (Vitalii Koval/Telegram)
The parliament approved the appointment of Rivne Oblast Governor Vitalii Koval as the new head of the State Property Fund, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Nov. 21.
The position of the State Property Fund's chief was previously held by Rustem Umerov, who was appointed as the new defense minister in early September.
"I am finishing my more than four-year tenure as the Rivne Oblast governor," Koval wrote on his Telegram channel.
"The next head of the oblast will effectively and appropriately continue the work of our professional team, part of which will remain to work in the oblast."
Before he was appointed the Rivne Oblast governor in 2019, Koval worked in the banking industry between 2004 and 2006 and headed various enterprises between 2006 and 2019.
He is a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party.
An investigation by Bihus.info from 2020 discovered that the road construction company BBB Montazh, headed at the time by Koval before he was appointed the governor, won the largest specialized tenders in Rivne Oblast, even though it was registered in Kyiv.
Another company of which Koval was a director, Investtradeservice, reportedly understated the value of its products in customs declarations, allowing it to avoid paying taxes, media outlet Chetverta Vlada reported.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Roman Steblivskyi
