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."
Ukrainian soldiers sail on a boat to conduct an operation on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast on Sept. 14, 2023. (Kostiantyn Liberov & Vladyslava Liberova/Getty Images)
Russian reconnaissance troops attempting to cross the Dnipro River in the Kherson Oblast were forced to abandon their mission after suffering heavy casualties, Ukraine’s military has said.
According to the Southern Operational Command, a boat carrying Moscow’s forces attempted to land on the western bank near the Antonivskyi Bridge.
“A bunch of invaders were sent from the left bank of the Dnipro in Kherson Oblast in a motor boat to test their fate,” it said in a post on Telegram.
“Under heavy fire from the defense forces, the occupying boat magically repeated the fate of the Russian fleet – having lost a quarter of its capacity and fullness, it retreated to the left bank again.”
Fierce fighting is ongoing on the Russian-held east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast for months, where Ukrainian forces have established limited footholds and managed to hold them for months.
Last month Russia claimed it had seized the Ukrainian bridgehead in the village of Krynky, one of the main flashpoints in this sector, which was later refuted by Ukraine.
“Our units reliably hold the defenses of the right bank," Southern Operational Command added.
Chris York is news operations editor at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, he was head of news at the Kyiv Post. Previously, back in Britain, he spent nearly a decade working for HuffPost UK. He holds an MA in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
