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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov attend a welcoming ceremony prior to their talks in Bishkek on Oct. 12, 2023. (Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Oct. 12 and met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov ahead of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit.
Ostensibly one of the more democratic countries in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan has been one of Russia's few remaining allies in the aftermath of its war against Ukraine. It has also experienced democratic backsliding in recent years, according to Freedom House's 2023 report.
Russia has traditionally had close relations with Kyrgyzstan, and Putin used the visit as an opportunity to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Russian Kant military airbase outside of Bishkek.
Russia and Kyrgyzstan have close economic ties as well. Putin noted that Russia is the largest investor in the Kyrgyz economy, and Japarov touted the significant growth in Kyrgyz exports to Russia in the past two years.
Many believe that this increase is in part because international companies doing business with Russia began using Kyrgyzstan as an intermediary country to bypass sanctions. In July 2023, a number of Kyrgyz companies were sanctioned for evading sanctions and helping Russia obtain drone parts and other military hardware.
This is the first time Putin has traveled abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant in March for him and Russia's Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, for the forcible transfer of children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Countries that have signed the Rome Statute are obliged to arrest Putin if he sets foot in their respective countries. However, Kyrgyzstan has not ratified the Rome Statute.
The CIS was originally formulated in 1991 as an informal successor organization for the former constituent republics of the Soviet Union. However, only Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan are current members.
Following the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 and Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Ukraine and Georgia withdrew. Moldova has also begun the process of leaving the organization.
In a sign of Armenia's rapidly declining relationship with Russia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not attending the upcoming summit.
In addition to Japarov, Putin will meet with the leaders of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Nataliya Bugayova
