"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
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.
Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor, during a news conference following a Special European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
There are six additional Patriot systems in NATO countries that could be delivered to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on April 18 following a Special European Council summit in Brussels.
Ukraine is facing a shortage of air defense systems amid an uptick in Russian attacks on population centers and energy infrastructure. U.S.-made Patriot systems are highly effective at intercepting Russia's ballistic and cruise missiles.
Germany announced on April 13 that it would provide Kyiv with an additional Patriot system, the third Patriot system Berlin has provided.
"Germany has taken substantial measures to equip Ukraine" and now calls "on others to take similar decisions," Scholz said.
Scholz said he used the Special European Council summit to "repeat this call and deepen it once more."
"We have heard about seven additional systems, one of these is ours, and we hope to find six more in the NATO context."
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Washington Post in an interview published on April 10 that Ukraine aims to obtain an additional seven Patriot air defense systems, and has offered that Kyiv can loan the systems from other countries.
During the summit, EU leaders discussed "the question of how we find the funds" needed to support Ukraine militarily, Scholz said, and agreed that windfall profits from frozen Russian assets would be used to "procure defense means for Ukraine."
Western countries and other partners immobilized around $300 billion of the Russian Central Bank'sassets at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in February that the EU should discuss the possibility of using the profits from frozen Russian assets to purchase military equipment for Ukraine.
Elsa Court
