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."
Firefighters putting out a fire in Ivano-Frakivsk Oblast, Ukraine, following a mass Russian strike on Nov. 17, 2024. (State Emergency Service/Telegram)
Editor's note: The article was updated with the latest statement by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 102 of the 120 missiles and 42 of the 90 drones launched by Russia overnight on Nov. 17, the Air Force reported.
Russian forces launched one of the heaviest aerial strikes against the country throughout the full-scale war, primarily targeting the energy grid.
During the attack, Russia deployed seven Tu-160, 16 Tu-95MS, and two Tu-22M3 bomber planes, five Su-34 fighter-bombers, four Su-27 fighter jets, 10 MiG-31K Kinzhal missile carriers, and four naval missile carriers, according to the Air Force.
Russia reportedly attacked Ukraine with a hypersonic 3M22 Zirkon missile, eight air-launched Kinzhal missiles, 101 Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles, one Iskander-M ballistic missile, four Kh-22/31P missiles, five Kh-59/69 aerial guided missiles, and 90 drones.
The country's air defenses shot down the Zirkon missile, seven Kinzhal missiles, 85 Kh-101 and Kalibr missiles, and all the Kh-22/31P and Kh-59/69 missiles, as well as 42 drones, according to the Air Force.
Forty-one drones were lost across Ukraine thanks to "active countermeasures," while two flew back to Russia and occupied territories, according to the statement.
Air defenses were active nearly all of Ukraine's regions: the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Volyn and Lviv oblasts.
"We are grateful to our air defense forces involved in the attack, our aviation – F-16, Sukhoi, and MiG pilots – mobile fire groups, electronic warfare units, everybody worked in an organized manner," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets shot down close to 10 aerial targets on Nov. 17, the president added.
At least seven civilians were killed and at least 19 injured across multiple regions, according to preliminary data.
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.
Chris York
