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.
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.
"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."
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.
Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Bulgaria's Defense Minister Todor Tagarev (Rustem Umerov/Twitter)
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov met with his Bulgarian counterpart Todor Tagarev, and signed a memorandum on bilateral security cooperation, Umerov wrote on Twitter on Oct. 12.
The memorandum increased the spectrum of bilateral cooperation in a variety of security-related areas, including "cyberdefense, strategic communications, and receiving military-technical support," said Umerov.
Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev has consistently opposed providing Ukraine with large-scale defense assistance. He has been accused of having a pro-Moscow stance and called Crimea "Russian" during a 2021 presidential debate.
After the Bulgarian parliament approved arms supplies to Kyiv in December, the interim cabinet provided the first package of military aid, but further aid was reportedly blocked by Radev.
However, the new government, which was formed in early June under Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov, appears to be taking active steps to help Ukraine repel Russian aggression.
Since then, Bulgaria has directly sent Ukraine a variety of military hardware, including ammunition and armored personnel carriers.
Rustem and Tagarev also discussed how Bulgaria will help with English-language courses for future F-16 Ukrainian pilots.
In August 2023, the first group of Ukrainian pilots were selected to be part of the F-16 training program, but the lack of English language skills created a significant obstacle.
Some pilots were sent to the U.S. and the U.K. for English language training in September 2023.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Martin Fornusek
