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."
The Ukrainian army destroyed a thermobaric munitions depot on the Russian-occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast overnight on Feb. 28, 2025. (The General Staff / Telegram)
Ukrainian forces destroyed a thermobaric munitions depot in Russian-occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast overnight on Feb. 28, the General Staff reported in a post on Telegram.
The post was accompanied by a video of the strike near the town of Selydove in the embattled Pokrovsk district — an initial explosion is followed by a spectacular series of much larger subsequent explosions in what appears to be the detonation of material on the ground.
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The General Staff described the target as a "thermobaric ammunition storage facility of the Russian invaders." The results of the attacks are still being determined, according to the report.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Ukrainian forces also hit three other facilities in Russia, the General Staff said, including the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai — the second time in February it has been hit.
The previous attack, carried out by Ukraine on Feb. 17, caused a fire at the plant, which includes six oil refining units with a total capacity of 6.6 million tons per year, a source told the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine considers Russian oil facilities to be valid military targets, as fossil fuel profits supply Moscow's war machine.
The Ukrainian military has launched repeated attacks against Russian refineries with long-range drones.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Alex Cadier
