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.
Russian airborne early warning and control aircraft Beriev A-50U on March 10, 2017. (Sergey Lutsenko/Wikimedia Commons)
The Minsk City Court sentenced 12 people to prison over sabotage of the Machulishchy military airfield in Belarus last year, the Viasna human rights group said on Oct. 4. Some of the sentences were handed down in absentia.
The airfield near Minsk has been used by the Russian military during Moscow's war against Ukraine. Belarusian partisans allegedly carried out the sabotage on Feb. 26, 2023, damaging a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft.
The suspects were charged with up to 11 criminal articles, including terrorism and treason, and sentenced to two to 25 years in prison. This included those who were not accused of direct involvement in the sabotage and may not have known about its preparation, RFE/RL's Belarusian service reported.
The behind-the-closed-doors trial began on Aug. 19.
As part of the case, the court sentenced Ukrainian citizen Mykola Shvets, named by the Belarusian authorities as the "main perpetrator" in the sabotage, to 25 years in prison in absentia. Viasna said six other sentences were also issued in absentia.
Shvets was detained in March 2023 but was released in June of that year alongside four other Ukrainian citizens detained in Belarus, as well as others held by Russia.
The A-50 aircraft provides several critical functions for the ongoing war in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles, and coordinating targets for Russian fighter jets.
The Russian Air Force lost two of these planes in early 2024, one in January and another on Feb. 23, to Ukrainian attacks. One such aircraft costs around $330 million.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Feb. 25 that Russia has only six planes of this model left in service. The aircraft damaged in Belarus is reportedly undergoing repairs at a facility in Taganrog, Russia.
Maria Yeryoma
