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.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, other Ukrainian and European officials during the International Summit on Food Security "Grain from Ukraine" in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 25, 2023. (Ukraine's Presidential Office)
Odesa Oblast "will soon be protected by very powerful air defense" with the help of Ukraine's partners, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the International Summit on Food Security on Nov. 25.
According to Zelensky, there are "agreements and a positive signal from partners" on new air defense equipment for the southern region regularly targeted by Russian forces since the termination of the U.N.-brokered grain deal.
Ukraine's allies have also started supplying the country with boats to escort ships passing through the Black Sea humanitarian corridor, the president said at a press conference.
Zelensky didn't specify which countries have provided or will provide such equipment and how many boats have been delivered so far.
The humanitarian corridor was opened in August after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain initiative, which had allowed Ukraine to export its agricultural products during the full-scale invasion. Russia then threatened that all ships sailing to Ukrainian ports would be considered legitimate targets.
Ukraine has reportedly managed to export almost four million metric tons of food and goods through the temporary corridor, but the safety of cargo ships is not guaranteed.
A Russian missile hit a civilian ship at a port in Odesa Oblast on Nov. 8, killing one crewmember and injuring four others.
The Nov. 25 summit in Kyiv aimed "to strengthen Ukraine's role as a guarantor of food security, to consolidate efforts to ensure global food security and to develop alternative logistics routes for the export of agricultural products from our country," according to the Presidential Office.
Swiss President Alain Berset, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrid Simonite visited the summit in person. Leaders of Poland, Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Guatemala took part virtually.
The "Grain from Ukraine" summit coincided with the Holodomor Memorial Day, marking the 90th anniversary of a man-made famine orchestrated by the Soviet authorities between 1932-33 that caused an estimated 3.5 to 5 million Ukrainian deaths.
"Never again should hunger become a weapon against people's freedom. And anyone who tries to exploit hunger in this way, anyone whose terror serves the chaos of the food market, must be held accountable to the whole world. Russia must be held responsible," Zelensky concluded.
Dominic Culverwell
