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.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
Illustrative purposes only: Ukrainian forces successfully down a Shahed-type drone over the skies of Sumy Oblast on Jan. 9, 2024. (Sumy Oblast Military Administration/Telegram)
Russian forces launched 41 attacks on Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast on Feb. 8 targeting 11 communities, the regional administration reported. The shelling caused at least 251 explosions in the area.
The Russian military fired at the communities of Khotin, Yunakivka, Myropillia, Bilopillia, Vorozhba, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Krolevets, Esman, Shalyhyne, and Seredyna-Buda.
Over the past 24 hours, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, artillery, drone, and grenade launcher attacks. No casualties were reported.
The town of Bilopillia, located just eight kilometers south and 25 kilometers west of the Ukraine-Russia border, and surrounding areas experienced the most intense attacks with 163 explosions reported.
Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia. Residents in the region's vulnerable border settlements experience multiple attacks per day.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
