"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.
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.
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.
"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."
Donald Tusk speaks at a press conference with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte (not in view) on Nov. 13, 2024 (Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on May 11 that Russian intelligence services ordered a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"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," Tusk saidon X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
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. Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for. We will get you all!
"We have in-depth knowledge of the order and course of the arson and the way in which the perpetrators documented it. Their actions were organized and directed by an identified person staying in the Russian Federation," Polish Justice Minister Adam Bodnar and Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak saidin another statement.
On May 12, 2024, a massive fire destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw which houses approximately 1,400 stores.
Western intelligence officials have reportedly warned about increasing Russian sabotage operations across Europe. Arson attacks have previously targeted other EU countries, raising suspicions of a coordinated Russian effort to destabilize the countries that support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Polish authorities are cooperating with Lithuania, where the detained suspects allegedly carried out additional sabotage attacks.
Lithuanian authorities previously said they suspect Russia's intelligence services of orchestrating arson attacks on an IKEA warehouse in Vilnius, and had also linked Russia to the Warsaw shopping center attack.
The attack on the Ikea warehouse caused an estimated 500,000 euros ($545,000) in damage.
No additional details were provided by officials as to the details surrounding the investigation into the fire, nor on the suspects detained.
A number of suspected spy networks, allegedly run by Minsk and Moscow, have been uncovered in Poland over the past years.
Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD said on April 22 that Russia is stepping up its hybrid attacks aimed at European allies.
"We see that the Russian threat against Europe is increasing, including after a possible end of the war against Ukraine," MIVD director Peter Reesink said in the agency's annual report.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Kateryna Hodunova
