The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
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.
A Ukrainian soldier is seen along the frontline in the direction of Kreminna, Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region on March 31, 2024. (Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Most Ukrainians say they understand the motivation of those who try to avoid mobilization, according to a poll by Ukraine's Institute of Social and Political Psychology published on April 1.
Ukraine aims to ramp up mobilization in 2024 and a draft law on mobilization, which is currently being discussed and amended in parliament, proposes to lower the enlistment age and introduce basic military training for adults.
The poll showed that 53.9% of respondents agreed with the statement that "those who avoid mobilization can be understood - no one wants to die."
Another 17% disagreed, while 29% of respondents said it was difficult to answer. Among respondents in central regions of Ukraine, the number of those who said they could not answer rose to 35.5%.
The highest figure of those who disagreed with the statement was among respondents in the west of Ukraine, at 22.6%.
At the same time, almost 43% of respondents said they were ashamed of men who evade mobilization.
This number rose to 50% among respondents living in the south of Ukraine, where much of the front line is located. This region also had the highest number of respondents who said they understand the motivations of those who want to evade mobilization, at 70.9%.
The survey was conducted via face-to-face interviews between March 1 and March 15, and had 2,000 respondents, who were adults living across Ukraine, other than in areas under Russian occupation.
President Volodymyr Zelensky initially said in December 2023 that the army required the mobilization of 450,000-500,000 additional conscripts, but Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 29 that this number has been "significantly reduced."
Martin Fornusek
