"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.
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.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talks to media in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, on June 20, 2023. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images).
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on July 25 that the EU had paid out 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion) in macro-financial aid to Ukraine.
This is the sixth payment of 1.6 billion euros under the Macro-Financial Assistance package for Ukraine, which in total amounts to 18 billion euros ($19.9 billion) and is disbursed in monthly tranches.
"Today we paid another 1.5 billion euros, to help keep the state running and repair infrastructure," von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
Von der Leyen condemned the Russian strikes on Ukrainian export infrastructure and stated that "as Russia continues its ruthless war, we continue to support Ukraine."
On July 18, von der Leyen said that the EU would continue helping Ukraine to export its agricultural products through "solidarity lanes" after Russia refused to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17.
The EU Commission presented the solidarity lanes in May 2022 to facilitate Ukraine's agricultural exports, even before Turkey and the U.N. brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July of that year.
Von der Leyen previously announced plans to mobilize up to 50 billion euros for Ukraine between 2024 and 2027.
The EU will distribute the package under the condition that Ukraine implement reforms on the rule of law and address corruption.
Elsa Court
