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.
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.
A Bayraktar TB2 on display at the Lithuanian Air Force base in Siauliai, Lithuania on July 6, 2022, acquired for Ukraine thanks to a Lithuanian crowdfunding program. (Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty Images
The Turkish company Baykar has received licenses to produce Bayraktar and Akıncı combat drones in Ukraine, the newspaper Yeni Akit reported on June 22, citingthe company’s CEO Haluk Bayraktar.
The production of drones is expected to start in 2025 and the total investment into the project is expected to amount to $95.5 million, the newspaper wrote.
Baykar founded Avia Ventures LLC in Ukraine in 2019 with the aim of opening two factories in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced in 2022 that, based on an agreement between Ankara and Kyiv, Baykar would open a factory in Ukraine to produce Bayraktar drones.
This should also include training facilities for pilots, Reznikov added.
The Bayraktar is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle. Turkey has been supplying Bayraktar drones to Ukraine over the past few years.
Russia is also seeking foreign assistance with drone production and working with Iran to construct a drone factory on Russian territory, according to media reports.
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.
Martin Fornusek
