"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.
View of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is under Russian occupation, from the right bank of the Dnipro River. (Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of the Rosenergoatom, part of Russia's state nuclear operator Rosatom, claimed on July 4 that Ukraine's military allegedly plans to strike Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant overnight.
Earlier the same day, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces warned of Russia spreading such disinformation. According to the General Staff, Russian forces have placed objects similar to explosive devices on the roof of the plant's power units, possibly to simulate a Ukrainian attack.
Russia may be preparing a provocation at the occupied Zaporizhzhia plant "in the near future," said the Ukrainian military.
Karchaa alleged, cited by Russian state-owned news agency Interfax, that Ukrainian forces would purportedly hit the plant with long-range weapons, drones, and a Tochka-U missile "with a warhead filled with radioactive waste."
Ukraine's military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov told Channel 24 that such disinformation campaigns could serve as preparation and information cover for Russia's own actions.
On June 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced, citing intelligence data, that Moscow was considering a terrorist attack on the nuclear power plant through radiation leakage.
Several days later, Ukraine's Military Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov told the New Stateman that Russia had completed preparations for the attack. According to Budanov, Russian troops had additionally mined the plant's cooler and moved the equipment loaded with explosives to four of the six power units.
On July 1, Zelensky told Spanish reporters that Russian troops could give back the station under Ukrainian control after having mined it, only to blow it up remotely.
Russian forces have occupied the Zaporizhzhia plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, since March 2022. They have used it as a military base to launch attacks at Ukrainian-controlled territory across the Dnipro River.
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
Dinara Khalilova
