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 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 shelled Sumy Oblast 102 times in 33 separate attacks on Feb. 2, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported. No casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure were reported.
At least nine communities along the border were targeted, including Yunakivka, Khotin, Krasnopillia, Bilopillia, Myropillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Esman, Seredyna-Buda, and Svesa.
Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with artillery, mortar, rockets, drone, and grenade launcher attacks, while also dropping at least two mines onto the Svesa community.
The town of Bilopillia, with a pre-war population of about 15,600 residents, and surrounding areas experienced the most attacks during the day with Russian forces attacking it with mortar and artillery. At least 20 explosions were recorded, according to the administration. Bilopillia is located 45 kilometers away from Sumy, the regional center.
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.
Dinara Khalilova
