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.
Russia's proxy official Mikhail Filiponenko, who was killed by a car bomb in occupied Luhansk on Nov. 8, 2023. (Russian propaganda Telegram channels)
Russia's proxy official and former military commander, Mikhail Filiponenko, was killed by a car bomb in occupied Luhansk, Russian state-run media TASS reported on Nov. 8, citing Telegram channels of other proxy officials in the area.
TASS noted that it was not the first time a car bomb had been used in an attempt on his life — Filiponenko's car was previously blown up in February 2023.
Russian officials, their proxies, and collaborators have been routinely targeted in both occupied parts of Ukraine and in Russia. Kyiv does not typically comment on the attacks.
Oleg Tsaryov, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician who fled Ukraine in 2014, was shot in occupied Crimea on Oct. 27. He survived the attack but was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Earlier in October, Vladimir Malov, a member of Russia's ruling United Russia party, was killed in a car bomb explosion in the occupied city of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast.
The Washington Post released an article on Oct. 23 alleging that Ukrainian intelligence services were behind a number of high-profile assassinations of targets inside Russia.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) refused to comment on the article, saying that it would only be possible to discuss details regarding its special operations after Ukraine's victory over Russia.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
