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."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"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.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
The Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt on Aug. 27, 2023. (Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)
Israel's Foreign Ministry revoked their previously granted permission for foreigners to be evacuated from Gaza using the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on television on Oct. 14.
Lubinets said that Israeli authorities withdrew from the agreement just two hours before the planned evacuation was to begin, saying they could not guarantee the safety of those using the crossing.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry made an official complaint, as did Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel, Yevhen Korniichuk, according to Lubinets. Other countries also officially protested the decision, Lubinets said, or plan to.
Egyptian authorities had made the crossing open from their side, so it is unclear why Israeli authorities revoked their permission suddenly.
Reporting by CNN and other organizations found that foreign nationals arrived on Oct. 14 at the crossing at the time they had been told, but no one was there to open the gates. They waited for further directions that apparently did not arrive.
Earlier on Oct. 14, it was reported that a deal had been struck between Israel, Egypt, and the U.S. to allow for the evacuation of foreigners from Gaza via the Rafah crossing. Egyptian officials quoted by the Times of Israel said they had received “instructions” to reopen the Rafah border crossing on the afternoon of Oct. 14 for foreigners coming from Gaza.
Lubinets flew to Egypt to assist in the process of evacuating Ukrainian citizens from Gaza on Oct. 14.
The situation in Gaza is dire, he wrote, and 243 Ukrainian citizens, most of them women and children, urgently need to be evacuated.
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.
Alexander Query
