Last news • War in Ukraine
The Kremlin has set a situation for a gathering between Putin and Zelenskyy
A gathering of the heads of state is feasible after reaching sure agreements between the delegations of the events. Russia will put together and undergo Ukraine an inventory of situations for a ceasefire.
Editor's word: This can be a growing story and is being up to date.
Russia launched a drone strike in Sumy Oblast within the early morning of Might 17, killing 9 folks and injuring seven extra.
The drone focused a shuttle bus that was transporting civilians close to town of Bilopillia at 6:17 a.m. native time, the Sumy Regional Navy Administration reported on Telegram.
Sumy Oblast is a northeastern area that borders Russia's Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk oblasts.
Yurii Zarko, head of Bilopillia, referred to as the day “a black Saturday” within the metropolis’s historical past and declared three days of mourning from Might 17 to 19.
"This bus was carrying folks out of town for evacuation," Zarko advised Suspilne. "The wounded had been handled on the scene after which transferred to a hospital in Sumy. We’re at the moment retrieving the our bodies. Some victims haven’t but been recognized. Most of them are aged girls, together with two or three males."
Emergency companies and police are at the moment working on the scene.
Native residents usually expertise a number of assaults per day, with border areas affected by artillery and glide bomb strikes, and the regional middle of Sumy coming below missile and drone strikes.
Most just lately, Russia has been deploying small assault teams to infiltrate the area in a bid to develop the entrance line.
The most recent assault on Sumy follows current peace talks in Istanbul, the place Russia rejected a ceasefire and reiterated its maximalist calls for within the conflict in opposition to Ukraine.
The Kyiv IndependentVolodymyr Ivanyshyn
ISW defined the explanations for Putin's change of commander of the Russian floor forces
Putin dismissed Oleg Salyukov and appointed Andrei Mordvichev. ISW believes that this may increasingly point out the Kremlin's approval of the ways of assaults with heavy losses.
Russia has misplaced 972,600 troops in Ukraine because the starting of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the Common Workers of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Could 17.
The quantity contains 910 casualties Russian forces suffered simply over the previous day.
In line with the report, Russia has additionally misplaced 10,831 tanks, 22,553 armored preventing automobiles, 48,809 automobiles and gasoline tanks, 27,942 artillery programs, 1,386 a number of launch rocket programs, 1,167 air protection programs, 372 airplanes, 336 helicopters, 36,278 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.
The Kyiv IndependentAndrew Chakhoyan
Basic Workers reported on the scenario on the entrance: most assaults in Donetsk and Kharkiv areas (maps)
On Might 16, 145 fight clashes came about on the entrance. The most popular was within the Pokrovsky course, the place Ukrainian troopers repelled 52 enemy assaults.
Russia's economic system is experiencing a pointy slowdown in development, in line with a report launched by the governmental statistics company Rosstat on Could 16.
Gross home product (GDP) solely grew by 1.4% within the first quarter of 2025 – a notable decline from 4.5% development within the earlier quarter and 5.4% in the identical interval final yr, the Moscow Occasions reported, citing Rosstat knowledge.
The newest knowledge from Rosstat got here in under expectations: the Russian Financial Improvement Ministry estimated GDP development at 1.7% and Bloomberg analysts predicted 1.8% development.
In accordance with Egor Susin, an govt from Gazprombank (the third largest financial institution in Russia, presently below sanctions), Rosstat's knowledge present a "sharp slowdown within the economic system."
In comparison with final quarter, the economic system has already contracted 0.4% – the primary such decline since 2022, in line with Raiffeisenbank.
Different analysts level to Central Financial institution insurance policies, sanctions, provide difficulties, and excessive inflation as causes for the economic system's decline.
Furthermore, "the state of affairs is sophisticated by low oil costs," Raiffeisenbank analysts observe, as oil and fuel revenues fell 10% from January to April.
A current report from the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) additionally revealed that, regardless of narratives from the Kremlin, Russia’s economic system is below rising pressure from its conflict in Ukraine and Western sanctions.
As Moscow and Kyiv focus on potential peace deals, the Russian economic system might face one other shock if army spending is decreased. Conversely – if peace talks fail – Europe and the USA might impose further sanctions on Russia, placing additional pressure on its economic system.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy
No Russian ships recorded within the Black and Azov Seas – Ukrainian Navy
No enemy ships have been recorded within the Black and Azov Seas on Could 17. There are 3 enemy ships within the Mediterranean Sea, considered one of which is a service of cruise missiles.
Regardless of an invite from President Volodymyr Zelensky to fulfill head to head in Istanbul, President Vladimir Putin was a no-show in Turkey, sending as an alternative an aide, Vladimir Medinsky, to move the Russian delegation in peace talks.
Medinsky headed the final and solely different direct talks between the 2 sides in Istanbul held in the course of the early days of the invasion in March–April 2022.
Though not in authorities, Medinsky has remained near the Russian president. He’s additionally among the many ideologues of "Ruskiy Mir," or "Russian World," an idea that makes an attempt to unify all Russian-speaking and ethnically Russian individuals in a single shared house, no matter present borders. Russia makes use of the idea to justify its aggression in opposition to its neighbors.
Medinsky, born in Ukraine's Cherkasy Oblast, rose by the political ranks from a member of the ruling United Russia Occasion to Putin aide, finally turning into a trusted confidant in peace talks with Ukraine.
"(Medinsky) is a loyal servant," Scott Luсas, a political scientist and professor of American Research and Worldwide Politics at College School Dublin's Clinton Institute, advised the Kyiv Impartial. "That's his most precious asset."
Books, historical past, propagandaMedinsky, who’s below U.S. and Canadian sanctions for spreading disinformation about Russia's aggression in opposition to Ukraine, served because the Russian tradition minister from 2012 to 2020.
He additionally holds doctoral levels in political science and historical past and is the writer of a number of nonfiction books and college textbooks. His work is understood to comprise Russian propaganda narratives and has been characterised as pseudo-scientific.
"Many scientists and teachers in Russia are literally engaged solely in propaganda and falsification," mentioned Serhii Zhukov, an analyst on the Kyiv-based Heart for Strategic Communications and Info Safety. However with official educational titles, their "phrases have weight (in Russia)."
And "for Medinsky, historical past is just not a science, however a software for educating ideologically-driven residents," Zhukov mentioned.
One of many final books Medinsky labored on was a historical past textbook for tenth and eleventh graders. Since 2023, Russian youngsters, in addition to Ukrainians dwelling within the Russian-occupied territories, have been utilizing the textbook, which is aligned with Russian propaganda narratives about Ukrainian historical past.
In Medinsky's textbook, the EuroMaidan Revolution, which started in response to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to signal the long-awaited Affiliation Settlement with the European Union, is falsely portrayed as a "navy coup."
"Medinsky has been monopolizing and controlling the method of writing curricula and college textbooks for 10 years."
Following the textbook's launch, Medinsky and his co-author, Anatoly Torkunov, the top of the Russian Institute of Worldwide Relations had been served notices of suspicion in absentia by Ukraine's Safety Providers. The 2 had been accused of encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, in addition to justification and glorification of Russia's aggression in opposition to Ukraine.
"Medinsky has been monopolizing and controlling the method of writing curricula and college textbooks for 10 years," Zhukov mentioned, including that he’s additionally accountable for faculty programs akin to Russian navy historical past.
"This can be a one who is basically accountable in Russia for the ideological processing and indoctrination of kids."
Lucas famous that Medinsky is able to do any job the Kremlin assigns him, from engaged on textbooks to peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey.
"He (Medinsky) is nearly a minister and not using a portfolio. He doesn't have a particular process (within the authorities), however he’s a common particular person readily available to hold out (duties), as a result of he’s a protected pair of fingers for Putin," Lucas advised the Kyiv Impartial.
For the reason that full-scale invasion started, Medinsky has been on a brand new mission: to steer negotiations with Ukraine.
Medinsky's 'peace' effortsMedinsky, born within the metropolis of Smila in central Ukraine, claimed in an interview with RBC Russia in 2023 — after the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — that he had no hatred for Ukrainians and that Russia had no battle with Ukraine.
Medinsky additionally claimed on his Telegram channel in March 2022, additionally after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, that Ukraine was allegedly making ready an offensive in Donbas, and that Russia's bloodbath of civilians within the Kyiv suburb of Bucha was staged by the Ukrainian authorities. Together with these statements, Medinsky claimed in that Russia wished peace.
After it grew to become recognized that Putin wouldn’t go to Istanbul, the Russian delegation finally assembled a bunch of people who didn't embody any top-level officers, together with Medinsky. President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted, saying Moscow had dispatched a "sham delegation."
The earlier assembly between the Ukrainian and Russian sides in Istanbul in 2022 led to a impasse, throughout which Moscow reportedly demanded that Kyiv depart Crimea below Russian occupation and abandon its aspirations to hitch NATO. Historical past is now repeating itself, however with extra vertiginous turns.
"Their PR might be: We’re those who genuinely negotiated in 2022, and that is the person (Medinsky) who was a part of that real negotiation," Lucas mentioned. "And look! He's attempting three years later to get the deal as a result of it was Ukraine that walked away from them."
The professional added that, because the 2022 conferences, Russia has tried to painting itself in these talks as a prepared negotiator and a sufferer of the West's bullying.
As in 2022, the talks in Istanbul on Might 16 didn’t end in a ceasefire settlement.
Russia reportedly made "unrealistic" calls for that go "far past something ever mentioned," based on Sky Information. A few of these calls for embody the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from their very own territory as a situation for a ceasefire, a Ukrainian diplomat advised Sky Information.
After the talks on Might 16, Medinsky mentioned the Russian delegation "was happy with the outcome and was able to proceed contacts," in an obvious try and shift accountability for the following transfer to Ukraine and the West.
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The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova
Israel has launched a large-scale operation in Gaza
The Israeli military has launched the primary part of Operation Gideon's Chariot in Gaza. The purpose of the operation is to grab strategic areas, defeat Hamas and launch hostages.
ISTANBUL — Russian President Vladimir Putin had rebuffed President Volodymyr Zelensky, his European allies, and the U.S., and in response, Donald Trump merely went together with it, excusing his Russian counterpart for not attending the peace talks in Istanbul that Putin himself proposed.
Because the Russian and Ukrainian delegations emerged from the Istanbul palace on Might 16 after simply two hours, there have been glimmers of hope, with either side agreeing on what would be the largest prisoner swap but.
However as particulars of the assembly started to leak, one factor was clear — Russia has no urge for food for a ceasefire, no intention of stopping the struggle in Ukraine, and months of Trump-led peace talks have performed nothing to sate the Kremlin's maximalist calls for first floated again in 2022 firstly of the invasion.
"Putin is laughing at Trump in entrance of the entire world," a Ukrainian infantryman recognized solely by his callsign "Mamai" in accordance with army protocols, informed the Kyiv Unbiased.
"Based mostly on the outcomes of three years of struggle, in Putin’s eyes, all of the leaders of the Western world are weaklings and suckers."
Day 2 in IstanbulAfter a Day 1 that descended right into a name-calling shambles with out even delivering any talks, hopes have been barely increased on Might 16 that the 2 delegations would meet, if solely as a result of this time they have been each undoubtedly in the identical metropolis from the get go.
Delayed by an hour, the talks started at lunchtime and have been over lower than two hours later.
On a optimistic notice, Russia and Ukraine reached an settlement for the change of prisoners of struggle (POWs) on a 1,000-for-1,000 foundation, Protection Minister Rustem Umerov, who was main Ukraine's delegation, informed reporters after the talks.
"We’ve got skilled round 26 ceasefire agreements from 2014 until 2022 — none of them have been taken significantly by the Russians."
A supply within the Ukrainian President's Workplace briefed on the talks informed the Kyiv Unbiased that Kyiv additionally provided a right away ceasefire, and to carry a face-to-face assembly between Zelensky and Putin.
In return, the Russian delegation refused, as an alternative insisting that Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts, regardless of Russia not controlling any of them of their entirety.
The Kremlin illegally declared the annexation of the 4 oblasts following sham referenda in late 2022, incorporating them into Russia’s structure — a transfer that holds no weight internationally.
"The Russians, as predicted, have demonstrated full unreadiness for actual negotiations," Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a lawmaker from the Holos social gathering, informed the Kyiv Unbiased.
The overall view from Ukraine — cast by greater than a decade of Russian aggression — is that Russia is solely stalling for time, making ready for extra army offensives over the summer season, a predictable continuation of the identical motive that has pushed the Kremlin since 2014 — the will to take extra Ukrainian land.
"We’ve got skilled round 26 ceasefire agreements from 2014 to 2022 — none of them have been taken significantly by the Russians," Ukrainian lawmaker Mariia Mezentseva informed the Kyiv Unbiased.
"By once more refusing a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, it signifies that Russian authorities are simply taking part in everybody for fools and taking the time to regroup," she added.
"In my residence, Kharkiv Oblast, our troopers already see their actions with an intention to occupy extra territories."A number of indicators recommend it's extra than simply Kharkiv Oblast in Russian sights — for months, Ukraine has been warning of build-ups of Russian forces and intensifying assaults close to Sumy Oblast.
Behind enemy tracesFor tens of millions of Ukrainians, Russian occupation is already a actuality. The trail the U.S.-led peace talks have taken to this point is compounding fears that occupation could change into everlasting.
"I’m afraid that the (potential) demarcation line will change into a brand new Berlin Wall," an individual presently residing in Russian-occupied Hola Prystan, Kherson Oblast, their identify withheld for safety causes, informed the Kyiv Unbiased, in feedback obtained with the help of the Serving to to Depart group.
"I would like to have the ability to discuss to my household, who can be on either side of this line, and to go to one another — I wish to see Ukrainian flags fluttering in Ukrainian Hola Prystan. I wish to dwell there," they added.
"I’m very afraid that these predators, Trump and Putin, will tear aside and plunder Ukraine, flip it right into a colony, and switch us into slaves."
The actual fact Russia has resurrected the identical calls for it put ahead in March and April of 2022, when Kyiv's capacity to struggle again with united Western assist wasn't sure, is a damning indictment of the impact Trump's push for peace has had on Ukraine.
"I’m very afraid that these predators, Trump and Putin, will tear aside and plunder Ukraine, flip it right into a colony, and switch us into slaves," a lady presently residing in Russian-occupied Stara Zburivka, Kherson Oblast, informed the Kyiv Unbiased
"Is it potential to search out phrases that would convey the grief of a mom who’s burying her son? I gave my son and acquired a flag in reminiscence of him," she added.
"Mr. Trump, don’t commerce land and treasures that don’t belong to you — I'm begging you to assist us drive this ferocious Russian pack out of our nation."
"He’s not prepared to simply accept that Russia is dishonest him and making him seem like a idiot."
In Kyiv, lawmakers who spoke to the Kyiv Unbiased are questioning one factor: how lengthy Trump will permit himself to be performed by Putin.
"He’s not prepared to simply accept that Russia is dishonest him and making him seem like a idiot," Volodymyr Ariev, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the opposition European Solidarity social gathering, informed the Kyiv Unbiased.
"Within the present state of affairs, Ukraine faces extra months of struggle, Russia will proceed the shelling of peaceable Ukrainian cities, and I feel that actual negotiations will solely be potential subsequent yr."
After the talks ended on Might 16, Zelensky and a number of other prime European leaders held a cellphone name with Trump, the Ukrainian chief introduced on Telegram.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk joined Zelensky in the course of the name.
"Ukraine is able to take the quickest potential steps for actual peace, and it’s important that the world holds robust positions," Zelensky wrote.
However regardless of Russia now getting into a 3rd month of refusing to comply with Trump's unique demand of a full, 30-day ceasefire, Trump has thus far appeared blissful to take what the Kremlin says at face worth.
Lamenting the variations in Western unity and the U.S. place on Russia beneath Presidents Trump and Joe Biden, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko informed the Kyiv Unbiased the present White Home's "illogical and inconsistent" strategy meant Ukraine was now in a worse place than at any time because the early days of the full-scale invasion.
"We misplaced this resolve and misplaced this consistency due to Trump," he mentioned.
Two days, and little to indicateAfter all of the hype and expectations, the Istanbul assembly didn't ship. Ukraine spent loads of political capital attempting to nook Putin, and, with out U.S. assist, it didn’t work.
The U.S. despatched Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was sceptical to start with, and who is probably going leaving simply as sceptical.
Russia spent some political capital too, although, and there are solely so many instances Putin will be capable to pull this off earlier than the rising echoes of European discontent lastly attain American ears.
"What’s attention-grabbing right here," Ambassador Kurt Volker, a former U.S. particular consultant for Ukraine, informed the Kyiv Unbiased, "is that the highlight retains getting brighter on Putin."
"The U.S., Europe, and Ukraine all name for a ceasefire, Putin then says negotiate. The U.S. and Ukraine say OK, let’s negotiate, after which Putin is a no-show. I don’t understand how for much longer this will go on."
Regardless, the U.S. place on the struggle in Ukraine hasn’t fairly developed sufficient for the White Home to start out tightening the screws on the Kremlin. Not but, anyway.
At greatest, the Istanbul talks chipped away at American assumptions that Russia is an sincere dealer; at worst, Putin performed for time, and left with the clock.
The Kyiv IndependentNatalia Yermak