"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.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stands on the stage during the "Raising the Flag for Ukraine in NATO" event on July 11, 2023, in Vilnius, Lithuania. (Omar Marques/Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 12 he hopes Ukraine will achieve victory in the full-scale war against Russia before the NATO summit in Washington in 2024.
Asked about the expectations before the next year's alliance summit, Zelensky said that Ukraine believes in victory over Russia.
"We believe that the next very important step for Ukraine will be at the next NATO summit - symbolically, after all, the 75th anniversary of the Alliance - in Washington. I think we need to work hard and prepare for this summit," the president said at a press conference following the summit in Vilnius.
Zelensky voiced his conviction that once Ukraine achieves victory, membership in NATO will follow.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukraine's Presidential Office, presented a similar position on July 11 when he said that Ukraine will receive a full invitation during the Washington summit at the latest.
"There is a 100% probability of this. Why? Because I think, by this time, Russia will finally lose its subjectivity and cease to exist as a country that can wage wars," Podolyak said, adding that Ukraine should win the war by 2024.
During the two-day summit in Vilnius, NATO adopted a three-part package to bring Ukraine closer to the Alliance, and dropped the need for the Membership Action Plan (MAP), but stopped short of a full invitation.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine will be able to join once "allies agree, and conditions are met."
While Ukraine's membership aspirations have not been satisfied, Zelensky acknowledged the positive results of the summit, as partners presented new security commitments and military aid packages for Kyiv.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
