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.
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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Presidential Office)
President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning to visit the D-Day commemoration in France and a G7 meeting in Italy in June to ask partners for more military aid, Politico reported on May 22, citing two undisclosed sources.
Due to the difficult situation at the front lines, Zelensky canceled on May 15 all of his international events scheduled for the coming days. He reportedly planned to travel to Portugal and Spain at the time.
Zelensky's schedule for trips to France and Italy may still change, according to Politico's sources.
If the president visits France, he is expected to urge partners to send Kyiv more military support and to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine, as the U.S. and the U.K. did during Iran's attack on Israel in April.
"I personally sent a signal to the Polish side, the U.S., and other countries that we are ready to sign all the papers. If they shoot down Russian missiles over our country, they will not be held responsible if it falls and something blows up... But everyone is afraid of 'escalation,'" Zelensky said in an interview with Reuters published on May 21.
Politico describes Zelensky's presence at the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings as one that will have "immense symbolic resonance." In addition to U.S. President Joe Biden and other Western leaders, a Russian representative is expected to attend the event.
During his visit to Italy, Zelensky will call on Western partners to seize Russian assets to help fund Ukraine's defense and reconstruction, Politico wrote.
Ukraine's Western allies and other partners froze around $300 billion in Russian assets at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
The EU Council agreed to use profits from the frozen Russian sovereign assets to aid Ukraine on May 21, which would provide Ukraine with between 2.5 billion and 3 billion euros ($2.7-3.26 billion) annually, with most of it allocated to Kyiv's military needs.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Dinara Khalilova
