"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
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.
A Ukrainian flag flies outside a building in the city center damaged by Russian shelling, Okhtyrka, Sumy Oblast, northeastern Ukraine. (Ilustrative purposes only) (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Russian forces targeted 12 rural communities in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast on Jan. 13, injuring a civilian in the town of Shostka, the local military administration reported.
Russian forces launched 36 attacks at the region throughout the day, striking the border communities of Yunakivka, Myropillia, Krasnopillia, Bilopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Esman, Znob-Novhorodske, Shostka, Svesy, Shalyhyne, Druzhbivka, and Seredyna-Buda. The administration recorded 191 explosions in the area.
In the town of Shostka, located some 53 kilometers west of the Russia-Ukraine border, one civilian was injured in missile attack in the morning of Jan. 13. Over 300 apartments were damaged in the attack.
Russian troops used artillery, mortars, mines, and drones to attack other communities.
The town of Seredyna-Buda and surrounding areas experienced the most attacks, with 54 explosions recorded over the past 24 hours. Seredyna-Buda is located mere kilometers west from the Ukraine-Russia border.
The residents who live in the vulnerable communities along Sumy Oblast's northeastern border with Russia are subject to daily shelling from nearby Russian troops.
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.
Elsa Court
