"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.
"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.
Balkan leaders pose with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President Volodymyr Zelensky, and European Council President Charles Michel in Athens on Aug. 21, 2023. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Athens on Aug. 21 to participate in a Ukraine-Balkan summit in Greece, Zelensky said in a video message published on his Telegram channel.
He is set to hold joint meetings with Balkan leaders to coordinate European and Euro-Atlantic integration, defense cooperation, security, as well as separate talks on bilateral issues.
He will also meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to his post on Telegram.
"We continue our visit to Greece (after visits to Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark). We have already arrived," Zelensky said.
The president visited Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden during a diplomatic trip to the countries to discuss military aid, particularly fighter jets for Ukraine's war effort.
Zelensky will also meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of the summit, Ukrinform reported.
“I want to inform the public that I will have a bilateral meeting with him at the request of the Ukrainian President. I will talk to Zelensky about everything that has happened recently in Kosovo. I believe we will have an open and good conversation,” Vucic said.
In May, dozens of NATO peacekeeping soldiers were injured when violence erupted in northern Kosovo following elections in which ethnic Albanian mayors took office in Serbian-majority areas of northern Kosovo. Serbs boycotted the elections, resulting in low turnout. Kosovo blamed Serbia for inciting the boycott and ensuing violence.
Serbia has never recognized Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority, as an independent state after it broke away from Serbia following a war in 1998-99. The U.S. and most European Union member states have recognized Kosovo's independence, which was officially declared in 2008. Ukraine has yet to recognize the country.
Serbia, whose military is armed through Russian donations and purchases, has been threatening force against Kosovo since it became independent.
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo also flared last summer amid claims that Kosovo was preparing an attack on ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo. The government in Kosovo has accused Vucic of deliberately stirring tensions between the two countries.
Last August, the government in Pristina, Kosovo said Serbs living in the north would have to use license plates issues in Pristina. Roadblocks were set up in protest, but were eventually removed with the oversight of NATO peacekeepers.
Alexander Query is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is the former business editor at the Kyiv Post. He worked as a TV correspondent and an anchorman at UATV in Ukraine, and received a BA in modern literature from La Sorbonne, in Paris.
Alexander Khrebet
