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.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
A building damaged by a Russian strike in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on March 22-23, 2024. (Vadym Filashkin/Facebook)
Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day killed two people and wounded another 15, including a police officer and a rescuer, Ukrainian authorities reported on March 23.
Russia targeted a total of nine Ukrainian oblasts — Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk. Casualties were reported in the latter six regions.
One civilian was killed, and another one was injured in attacks on Donetsk Oblast’s village of Ocheretyne, some 15 kilometers northwest of the recently captured Avdiivka, Vadym Filashkin, the regional governor, said on Facebook.
Another person was wounded in a Russian strike on the city of Myrnohrad, immediately east of Pokrovsk and around 50 kilometers northwest of the regional capital, Donetsk, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, according to Filashkin.
Russian forces launced a total of 16 strikes against Donetsk Oblast settlements, destroying or damaging 15 apartment buildings, almost 30 houses, an infrastructure facility, an administrative building, a store, and and industrial facility, added Filashkin.
Russia hit the city of Kherson and around 20 other settlements in the region overnight and on March 22, killing one person and wounding another three, according to Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
The strikes against Kherson Oblast reportedly damaged an apartment building, 14 houses, an agricultural facility, and cars.
Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv with drones at around midnight, damaging a utility facility, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. A secondary attack wounded a 19-year-old man as well as a rescuer and a police officer who arrived at the scene after the first strike, according to Syniehubov and the State Emergency Service.
“The aggressor country continues to deliberately destroy those who stand in defense of the safety of peaceful people,” the State Emergency Service said.
Russia’s military dropped three guided aerial bombs at the village of Semenivka in Chernihiv Oblast just 10 kilometers from the Russo-Ukrainian border, injuring two civilians as well as damaging administrative buildings and civilian infrastructure, the Ukrainian military's Northern Operational Command reported.
In the nearby smaller village of Prohres, a Russian drone hit a bus carrying civilians, injuring three people, the Northern Operational Command said.
The Nikopol district in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was targeted multiple times in the past day with artillery and drones, Serhii Lysak, the regional governor, said on Telegram.
A 57-year-old man suffered injuries while houses, outbuildings, two apartment buildings, an energy facility, a college, and power lines were damaged, according to Lysak.
Russian troops launched 60 attacks at border settlements in Sumy Oblast on March 22, causing 280 explosions in the area and injuring one civilian, the regional military administration reported.
Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy Oblast borders Russia and suffers from regular Russian attacks, resulting in civilian casualties and large-scale destruction.
Elsa Court
