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."
Destroyed home in Donetsk Oblast following the attack on Oct. 22. (Prosecutor General's Office/ Facebook)
Russia launched attacks on four settlements in Donetsk Oblast, killing two civilians and injuring three others, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Oct. 22.
The two deceased victims, a 58-year-old man and a 61-year-old man, were from the villages of Kalynivka and Vasiukivka, both near the Bakhmut sector of the front line.
Russian shelling injured a 19-year-old man in the village of Netaylove, Pokrovsk district.
In the city of Toretsk, a separate Russian artillery attack concussed a 59-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man.
"The explosions also damaged private homes, multi-apartment residential buildings, commercial buildings, and cars," the Prosecutor General's Office wrote on Facebook.
Russian forces also shelled settlements in Kharkiv Oblast on the morning of Oct. 22, injuring multiple residents.
Late on Oct. 21, Russian forces attacked Kharkiv Oblast with S-300 missiles, hitting the depot of the Ukrainian privately-owned postal service Nova Poshta in the village of Korotych.
The attack killed at least six people and injured 17, reported the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
Dominic is the business reporter for the Kyiv Independent. He has written for a number of publications including the Financial Times, bne IntelliNews, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, Euronews and New Eastern Europe. Previously, Dominic worked with StopFake as a disinformation expert, debunking Russian fake news in Europe.
Daria Shulzhenko
