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.
Illustrative purposes only: The entrance of the town of Sudzha, Kursk Oblast, Russia, on Aug. 8, 2024. (Anatoliy Zhdanov/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images)
Editor's note: The latest articles on Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast can be found here.
Russian authorities have introduced a so-called "counter-terrorism operation" in bordering Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts in response to Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region, Russian state-media outlet RIA Novosti reported on Aug. 10.
Following a surprise incursion by Ukrainian forces across the border days earlier, fighting has continued in the oblast, with Ukraine reportedly making gains deeper into Russian territory.
Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged on Aug. 9 that its forces were fighting the Ukrainian army on the outskirts of the town of Sudzhain Kursk Oblast.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee introduced new restrictive measures in the three oblasts including monitoring residents' phone conversations and restricting the movement of vehicles and pedestrians, New Voice reported.
Other measures include the temporary relocation of residents as well as loosely defined "public order protection."
Earlier in the day, Russia's Defense Ministry said it was sending additional military equipment to Kursk Oblast's Sudzha district - a town located 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.
Battles are also ongoing "a few dozen kilometers" from Kurchatov in Kursk Oblast, the town's mayor, Igor Korpunkov, claimed. The town is located some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Ukraine's Sumy Oblast and hosts the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry also said on Aug. 9 that the situation in Kursk Oblast had been declared a "federal emergency."
Kyiv has so far maintained a policy of silence on the incursion, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 8 that "Russia brought war to our land, and it should feel what it has done." He did not directly mention the incursion into Kursk Oblast.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian officials have regularly referred to Kyiv's democratically-elected government as a "terrorist regime" in an effort to justify its invasion.
In the last known instance, Russia instituted a counterterrorism operation on June 23 after militants allegedly fired on a synagogue, two churches, and a police post in Russia's Dagestan Republic.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Kateryna Hodunova
