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.
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 141st Separate Infantry brigade seen firing a Mark 19 40mm automatic grenade-launcher during military exercises near Zaporizhzhia on July 19, 2024. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Russia is building up its forces in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, adding at least 2,000 more troops there within the last few weeks, Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Tavria group of forces, said on national television on July 23.
At the same time, there is no indication yet that Russia is preparing for another offensive in the area, Lykhovii said.
While Russia has amassed some 90,000 troops in the area, intelligence suggests that a significant change in the nature of hostilities in the oblast would be unlikely, he added.
Russia has continued to strike civilian targets across Zaporizhzhia Oblast, but the front lines have not changed substantially in recent months. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that it had captured the embattled village of Robotyne in May, but Lykhovii denied that Ukrainian troops had lost ground in the area.
Ukrainian forces have kept up long-range strikes on Russian troops in the area, destroying two air defense systems in recent days, Lykhovii said.
To the north in Kharkiv Oblast, Russia has deployed fresh troops for likely forthcoming offensive operations, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said earlier in July.
Russia launched its latest offensive in Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, but the assault quickly stalled. Around 20,000 Russian troops were killed during the failed push in the northeastern region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier in July.
To the east in Donetsk Oblast, Russia has had some military successes in the past weeks.
Earlier in July, Ukrainian troops withdrew from the Kanal neighborhood of the embattled town of Chasiv Yar, as well as from the village of Urozhaine near the administrative borders of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Francis Farrell
