"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.
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.
Two Marder infantry fighting vehicles of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, on March 16, 2023 in Mahlwinkel, Germany. (Photo credit: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)
The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall announced on June 23 that it would deliver an additional 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) to Ukraine this summer.
“At the behest of the German government, Rheinmetall is once again supplying Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles. Awarded in May 2023, the order is worth a figure in the lower-two-digit million-euro range. The Marders are due to be delivered this summer,” the company said.
Rheinmetall reminded that it had already shipped a batch of 20 Marder IFVs to Ukraine on March 21. Together with the most recent batch and another 20 IFVs sent from existing German military stocks, Ukraine is now bound to field 60 Marders in total.
In addition, the arms manufacturer announced it can make another 60 Marders available, saying that the work is already underway. Up to ten IFVs can be delivered per month, Rheinmetall wrote.
The German company will also send 40 Marders to Greece to enable it to send older heavy equipment to Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Berlin pledged to provide Ukraine with missiles for Patriot air defense systems, as well as artillery ammunition and vehicles.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Francis Farrell
