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.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's Land Forces and Eastern Operational Command, talks to a Ukrainian serviceman. (Oleksandr Syrskyi/Telegram)
Russian forces in Bakhmut have been semi-encircled as Ukraine created conditions to retake the city, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi told the BBC on July 20.
"At the moment, the deployment of Russian troops resembles an arch, concentrated in Bakhmut. And they are under semi-encirclement. Well, it's impossible not to take advantage of that," the commander of Ukrainian forces in the east said in the interview.
Syrskyi noted that recapturing the city, taken by Russia in late May, has not only symbolic but also strategic value, as it represents a significant transport hub, allowing Russian forces further advances.
According to the general, the Wagner Group contractors who led the efforts to take the city suffered such heavy losses that they have been rendered unusable in combat. Ukraine will be able to capture Bakhmut with ten times smaller losses, Syrskyi said.
While admitting there is no clear timeframe for retaking the city, the general says it will be attempted as soon as possible.
Syrskyi noted that his troops are facing the concentration of Russian troops on the eastern front. Moscow has an advantage in artillery, air forces, and other hardware, the general listed the obstacles to Ukraine's swift advance.
Russia is also redeploying units from Zaporizhzhia Oblast, currently facing a major thrust of Ukrainian counteroffensive, to the east, illustrating the strategic value of the region for the Kremlin, the general commented.
In spite of this, Syrskyi's troops advance 500 m to 1 km every day, recapturing land and preventing Russian forces from taking the initiative, he said.
While Western observers and even President Volodymyr Zelensky noted a relatively slow advance of Ukraine's campaign, Syrskyi told ABC News on July 5 that the counteroffensive is developing according to plans.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on July 19 that Russian troops have been forced to retreat from positions near the village of Orikhovo-Vasylivka northwest of Bakhmut.
Earlier, the military reported advances also on Bakhmut's southern flank. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on July 17 that the Ukrainian troops liberated 7 square kilometers in the Bakhmut direction over the past week.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
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