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.
"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.
A Ukrainian flag flies outside a building in the city centre damaged by Russian shelling, Okhtyrka, Sumy Oblast, northeastern Ukraine. (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Russian forces attacked eight communities along the Sumy Oblast border on Dec. 11, firing 18 times over the course of the day, the Sumy Oblast military administration reported.
The communities of Yunakivka, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Esman, Znob-Novhorodske, Khotin, Druzhbivka, and Seredyna-Buda came under fire.
The Russian military targeted different communities with artillery, mortar, rocket and drone attacks, while also dropping mines onto a settlement.
The administration recorded 70 explosions throughout the day.
The town of Velyka Pysarivka, home to approximately 3,900 residents, experienced the most intense attacks, with 26 explosions recorded in the area. The community is located just seven kilometers west of the Ukraine-Russia border.
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.
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.
Alexander Khrebet
