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.
Cyclist on the street of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on April 21, 2024, amid a blackout due to the Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. (Serhii Korovayny/The Kyiv Independent)
Russia's full-scale invasion has inflicted $56.2 billion in damage to Ukraine's energy sector as of May 2024, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) report published on June 10.
A recent uptick in Russian strikes put a heavy strain on Ukraine's power grid, with several power plants being destroyed or disabled.
The energy sector suffered direct damage and indirect financial losses in the amount of $56.2 billion, while the restoration needs, which include the complete reconstruction of destroyed facilities, are $50.5 billion, the report says.
Direct damage to Ukraine's energy sector amounted to more than $16.1 billion as of May 2024, as KSE estimates.
The largest losses were caused by the destruction of electricity generation facilities ($8.5 billion), main electricity transmission lines ($2.1 billion), and oil and gas infrastructure ($3.3 billion).
Indirect losses in the energy sector are estimated at almost $40.1 billion, with the bulk of this amount coming from energy companies' lost revenues - $39.6 billion.
Another $500 million is the cost of debris removal and dismantling of damaged facilities.
During the full-scale invasion, more than 18 GW of electricity generating capacity was lost due to Russian occupation, including the occupation of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
The Kakhovka and Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plants, as well as the Zmiiv and Trypillia Thermal Power Plants, were completely destroyed.
Since the start of 2024, Russia has launched six large-scale attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructureand multiple smaller ones.
Russia carried out the last large-scale attack overnight on June 1, damaging energy infrastructure in various regions across the country.
An attack in April destroyed the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant, the main electricity supplier to Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy oblasts.
Due to resulting power deficits, Ukraine began implementing rolling shutdowns on May 15. The blackouts last from four to eight hours on average and could be carried out up to three times per day.
Chris York
