"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
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."
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) walks with Vladimir Putin shortly after Putin's arrival in Pyongyang, North Korea on June 19, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov / POOL /AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a bill to the State Duma, published online on Oct. 14, to ratify a treaty entailing strategic partnership with North Korea.
Among the tenets of the treaty is a stipulation that either country must provide military assistance to the other in the case of an attack.
The treaty was first signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2024. The defense pact officially enters into effect when both nations ratify the agreement.
Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened military cooperation as Russia seeks arms and other support in its full-scale war against Ukraine. In recent weeks, claims of a more direct North Korean presence in Ukraine have increased.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct. 14 announced that Russia plans to involve North Korea directly in the full-scale war against Ukraine in the coming months.
According to Ukraine's military intelligence, Russia's plans for the fall and winter include "the actual involvement of North Korea in the war," Zelensky said.
The previous day, Zelensky warned of Russia's "increasing alliance" with North Korea, saying the partnership had moved beyond an arms deal and is now "actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces."
Zelensky's statement followed reports that several North Korean officers had been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in occupied Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent has not been able to verify these reports, which have not been confirmed beyond a single intelligence source.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun told lawmakers in early October that North Korea was likely planning to send troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Oct. 10 dismissed these reports as "fake news."
The agreement signed by Putin and Kim bears similarities to historical treaties. South Korea's Yonhap news agency noted in June that Article 4 of the treaty, which discusses the obligation to render military assistance, replicates wording from Article 1 of the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance signed by North Korea and the Soviet Union in 1961.
Chris York
