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.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
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.
Polish soldiers stand guard by the Airport Road Section (DOL) of provincial road 604 during the Route 604 DRAGON-24 exercise on March 14, 2024 in Ruskowo, Poland (Omar Marques/Anadolu via Getty Images)
All civilian airports in Poland must be modernized and adapted for potential use by the country's military, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Feb. 25.
In comments reported by Polish Radio, Kosiniak-Kamysz said such adaptations would allow them to be used as transport hubs, evacuation points, cargo hubs, or aid points in the event of an emergency.
"Every airport must be adapted and in some way adapted to the possibility of cooperating and working with the military," he said.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said work was already underway at some major Polish airports — a "cargo hub, together with a railway siding, with fuel supplies" are being built at both Katowice and Wroclaw, and "preparatory processes" are underway at Krakow.
Situated on NATO's eastern flank, Poland has taken several steps to boost its military since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk advocated for increased defense spending across NATO on Jan. 15, arguing that if all European members matched Poland’s spending, NATO’s defense budget would be ten times that of Russia’s.
"Other countries should not pay 1.5 percent of their GDP for defense — this is not enough," he said, emphasizing that robust European defense contributions could help maintain friendly U.S.-European relations.
On Jan. 7, Trump called for NATO’s spending target to rise to 5% of GDP, significantly higher than the current 2% goal.
"If all European countries start taking their obligations in NATO seriously, I am sure America will be happy to cooperate with us," Tusk added.
While the 5% suggestion has faced resistance, some NATO members are reportedly open to a more modest increase, potentially to 3% of GDP, Reuters reported on Jan. 10.
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Andrea Januta
