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 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.
Russian opposition activist Ildar Dadin, who had joined Ukraine’s armed forces, was reportedly killed in battle in the Kharkiv region, according to former Echo of Moscow journalist Ksenia Larina.
Larina shared the news on social media, citing information from a fellow soldier, Igor Volobuyev, who heard it from Dadin's brothers.
Dadin was the first person convicted under Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code for "repeatedly violating the rules for organizing or holding protests, rallies, demonstrations, marches, or pickets."
This law later became informally known as the "Dadin Article."
After serving more than two years in prison and undergoing torture throughout his time there, Dadin joined Ukraine's forces against Russia in 2023, serving first in the Siberian Battalion and later in the Freedom of Russia legion.
Ukraine's military intelligence spokesman Andrii Yusov previously said that these militias, (also including the Russian Volunteer Corps), are comprised of Russian citizens who are part of Ukraine's "defense and security forces” but stressed that their incursions into Russia are not taking place under Kyiv's orders.
"On the territory of the Russian Federation, they act absolutely autonomously, on their own, and pursue their social and political program tasks," Yusov told the media.
Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence chief, said that anti-Kremlin militias had been helping Ukraine from the very beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, and Ukrainian forces would try to support them as well "to the extent possible."
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Chris York
