"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
Ukrainian soldiers preparing a mortar in the direction of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast on Feb. 9, 2024. Illustrative purposes. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Editor’s note: The article was expanded with a statement from the Khortytsia group of forces and its spokesperson, Viktor Trehubov.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on Jan. 26 that its forces had captured Velyka Novosilka, a strategically significant settlement in the western part of Donetsk Oblast.
Ukraine’s 110th Mechanized Brigade, which is deployed in the area, acknowledged a withdrawal from parts of the village to avoid encirclement but claimed that fighting is ongoing elsewhere in Velyka Novosilka.
"Fights in Velyka Novosilka are ongoing. Russian forces shelled our positions 30 times," the Khortytsia group of forces said on Jan. 27.
"The Defense Forces continue inflicting casualties to Russia in manpower and equipment during tense battles."
The group’s spokesperson, Viktor Trehubov, clarified later during the day that Ukrainian forces withdrew from the southern part of the village but continue to hold positions in the outskirts.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
The village with a pre-war population of 5,000 lies only around 15 kilometers from the administrative border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast and 20 kilometers from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a region so far untouched by Russian occupation.
The estimated Russian advance at Velyka Novosilka, Donetsk Oblast, as of Jan. 26, 2025, according to DeepState. (DeepState/OpenStreetMaps)
If confirmed, this would represent the most significant gain of Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast since overrunning Kurakhove earlier in January.
The 110th Brigade said that both Russia and Ukraine had parity in equipment but Moscow had significant advantage in manpower.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces will struggle to advance their offensive onward. The Mokri Yaly River creates an obstacle for Russia’s advance and Russian troops are in a vulnerable "fire pocket," said the brigade.
Fighting is at a very heavy level in Donetsk Oblast and Russian troops continue to advance, albeit slowly, this year. Throughout the fall of 2024, Russian forces made operational gains in southern Donetsk Oblast, including areas near Toretsk and Chasiv Yar, while advancing near Kupiansk and on Russian soil in Kursk Oblast.
Asami Terajima
