"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"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.
NEW YORK, UKRAINE - JULY 25: A man on a bike passes by the civilian homes destroyed due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in New York, Ukraine, 25 July 2023. Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade has taken positions in the settlement of Niu-York in the countryâs eastern Donetsk region. (Photo by Jose Colon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
At least 10,582 civilians have been killed and nearly 20,000 have been injured since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on Feb. 22.
The figure of 10,582, which includes 587 children, consists of civilian deaths verified according to UN methodology. The HRMMU stressed that the actual number of those killed and injured is likely to be significantly higher.
"The long-term impact of this war in Ukraine will be felt for generations," UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk said.
The UN notes that while the casualty numbers gradually decreased over the course of 2022 and 2023, they remained high, with an average of 163 civilians killed and 547 injured per month in 2023.
The vast majority of civilian casualties, totaling 91 percent, resulted from explosive weapons with wide area effects. Mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) accounted for 3.7 percent of these casualties, with the remaining percentage attributed to other weapons and incidents.
In the two-year period, attacks with explosive weapons also damaged or destroyed hundreds of educational and medical facilities. HRMMU has recorded that hostilities affected 1,072 educational facilities (236 destroyed and 836 damaged) and 465 medical facilities (59 destroyed and 406 damaged) since Feb. 24, 2022.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Dmytro Basmat
