"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 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.
"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.
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.
Denys Bihus, the head of Bihus.info investigative outlet, addressing the wiretapping scandal in a video published on Jan. 16, 2024. (BIHUS.info/YouTube)
Bihus.Info said on Jan. 16 that its employees had been surveilled for months after a video appeared online allegedly showing some staff members of the outlet using drugs during a New Year's private party.
"We see and understand that the wiretapping and monitoring took very long – at least several months," Maksym Opanasenko, an editor of the investigative outlet, said in a comment for Hromadske.
The story comes only a day after Yurii Nikolov, a prominent journalist known for his investigation into defense procurement corruption scandals, said he had received a threatening visit to his home by unknown men.
A video that sparked the Bihus.Info scandal appeared on the Narodna Pravda website, which appears to pose as a news outlet, earlier on Jan. 16.
The video includes footage of a well-placed, hidden camera inside a Kyiv building where the party took place, as well as video recordings taken from the street and tapped phone calls, apparently documenting the purchase of the drugs.
Denys Bihus, the head of the outlet, addressed the incident on YouTube, saying that the employees in question were not journalists, as the description under the video claimed, but camera operators.
The staff members recorded on the video have been fired, Bihus noted. The message under the YouTube video also said that everyone who works with Bihus.Info will have to undergo drug tests.
"Of course, the listening and surveillance were illegal, and the goals of those who recorded are clear. But this is no excuse for what we saw on the video, namely the use of prohibited substances by several of our colleagues," Bihus.Info's message on the YouTube channel read.
Speaking to Hromadske, Opanasenko said: "We have no evidence to say whether a person subordinate to the Office of the President or someone else was behind this."
Bihus.Info is known for its investigations into government and law enforcement officials.
Opanasenko added he could not rule out the possibility that this was an attempt to exert pressure against the outlet.
Talking to Babel, Opanasenko noted that some of the audio conversations leaked were months or even almost a year old.
In its statement on Telegram, Bihus.Info said that a day before the party, unknown people entered a building complex where the recording took place and installed surveillance cameras.
"Currently, we are trying to find out who is behind this attack and are considering the possibility of contacting the law enforcement officers with a statement about monitoring employees."
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.
Daniil Ukhorskiy
