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.
"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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky in his office. (Ukraine's Presidential Office)
Russian troops attacked the Kaniv Hydroelectric Power Plant in Cherkasy Oblast and the Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant in Chernivtsi Oblast during an attack on March 29, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
An overnight large-scale Russian strike targeted energy and civilian infrastructure in 10 of Ukraine's regions, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. At least six people, including a child, were injured in the attack, he said.
DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said that three of its power plants were struck and seriously damaged, without disclosingwhere the impacted power plants were located. Ukraine shot down 84 out of the 99 Shahed-type drones and missiles overnight, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported.
The two hydroelectric power plants were "deliberate targets" of Russian forces, Zelensky wrote on Telegram. He said that Moscow "wants to repeat" the Kherson Oblast disaster, referring to the Kakhovka dam destruction in June 2023.
"But now not only Ukraine, but also Moldova, is under threat. The water will not stop before the border pillars, just as the Russian war will not stop if we do not stop it in Ukraine together in time," the president said.
The Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant is located a few kilometers from the Ukrainian-Moldovan border. Monitoring Telegram channels claimed that a Russian missile allegedly entered Moldovan airspace during the attack. Kyiv could not confirm this information, Illia Yevlash, the Air Force's spokesperson, said on national television.
On March 22, Russian missiles hit the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Ukraine's largest hydroelectric station, during the biggest attack on the country's energy infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
In Romania, which borders with three regions in the west of Ukraine and Odesa Oblast in the south, the alleged fragments of a drone near the Ukrainian border were found, the country's Defense Ministry said on March 29.
The Hydroelectric Power Station-2 (HPS-2), one of the two stations of Zaporizhzhia's Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, is in critical condition following the attack. The dam itself suffered damage as well, but officials said that there was no risk of a breach.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Martin Fornusek
