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."
Transmission towers and power lines near a missile-damaged high-voltage electricity sub-station, operated by Ukrenergo, in central Ukraine, on March 1, 2023. (Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The morning wave of Russian attacks on Sept. 21 marked the first mass strike on energy infrastructure in six months, Ukraine’s state energy operator Ukrenergo reported.
Energy facilities in western and central Ukraine have been damaged and there were partial blackouts in Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv oblasts, according to Ukrenergo.
"Emergency recovery work began immediately after the alarm was sounded," Ukrenergo said.
Russian launched 43 missiles toward Ukraine in the attack, 36 of which were destroyed by Ukrainian defenses, the Air Force reported.
Across Ukraine, two people were killed and over two dozen were injured as a result of the strikes and falling debris.
Ukrenergo added that due to the ongoing Russian invasion, 398 settlements are currently cut off from the power network, many of them in front-line areas of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Sumy oblasts.
The head of Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, said in July that the operator is preparing for the worst-case scenario this winter, but was "certain that our main network will be ready to function without restrictions."
Russian forces attempted to cripple Ukraine's energy network with massive strikes during the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023, leading to frequent blackouts and a lack of heating across the country.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia is likely to attempt this strategy again next winter.
Elsa Court
