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.
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Monday, May 12
"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."
Monday, May 12
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.
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"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"We cannot allow NATO's military infrastructure to get that close to our borders," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
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.
Preliminary findings suggest that one of the men killed the other before taking his own life.
Western leaders dismissed the Kremlin's proposal for talks in Istanbul on May 15 as insufficient.
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.
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Ukraine's military intelligence says Russia planning large-scale provocation at occupied nuclear plant
• 1 min read
Ukraine's military intelligence reported on May 26 that Russian occupying forces at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant were preparing a large-scale provocation "in the next few hours."
"To achieve this, a strike will be carried out directly on the territory of the plant. Afterward, an announcement will be made about a catastrophic release of radioactive substances. Ukraine will naturally be blamed for the incident," the statement read.
According to military intelligence, Russian forces deliberately disrupted the scheduled staff rotation of the permanent monitoring mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on May 26 "to conceal their (planned) actions as best as possible."
The purpose of this provocation is to "provoke the international community to conduct a detailed investigation during which all hostilities will be stopped," allowing Russian forces to regroup and hinder Ukraine's ability to carry out a successful counteroffensive.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement on May 6 that the situation near the plant was "becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous."
Russian forces have been in control of Europe's largest nuclear power plant since March 2022, using it as a military base for launching attacks on Ukrainian-controlled territory across the Dnipro River.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is also currently operating with only a quarter of its usual staff, raising concerns regarding its maintenance.
Life near Russian-occupied nuclear plant: ‘I don’t know if tomorrow will come’
Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Independent talked to residents who are still in Russian-occupied Enerhodar and those who recently left but still have family in the city. For their safety, we do not disclose their identities. When Russian soldiers captured Enerhodar, the satellite city of the Zaporizhzhia…
Alexander Query
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