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 service members, involved in the country's military action in Ukraine, march on Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2024. (Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP via Getty Images)
Russia's Defense Ministry announced on April 21 that Russian troops resumed hostilities after the supposed Easter ceasefire, even as Ukraine accused Moscow of repeated violations while the truce was allegedly in effect.
The Russian ministry claimed its forces had struck Ukrainian forces near the village of Khmelivka in Sumy Oblast, the town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, the villages of Novodanylivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Poniativka in Kherson Oblast, and near several settlements in Donetsk Oblast.
Russia's temporary ceasefire was said to start at 6 p.m. Moscow time on April 19 and end at midnight on April 21. President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of nearly 3,000 ceasefire breaches during that period.
Russia's violations included 96 Russian assaults on Ukrainian positions, 1,882 instances of shelling, and 950 uses of Russian first-person-view (FPV) drones during the truce, Zelensky claimed, citing a briefing from Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
According to Kyiv, the Russian military was most active in the Pokrovsk and Siversk directions in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast.
The Ukrainian military warned in early April that Russia was preparing a new offensive in Kharkiv Oblast.
The press service of Ukraine's 13th National Guard Khartiia Brigade said on April 20 that Russia also used the Easter truce to reinforce positions and prepare for renewed assaults in Kharkiv Oblast.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Anna Fratsyvir
