Ukraine-Russia war live: Zelensky aide reveals the one key sanction Putin hates the most
Ukraine says unconditional ceasefire should be first step towards peace, as another Russian drone swarm hits Kharkiv and Dnipro
A senior aide to Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Ukraine’s allies to keep pressuring Vladimir Putin’s aviation sector with sanctions, as Moscow pushes to have them lifted before it will agree to a ceasefire.
Andriy Yermak, head of Mr Zelensky’s presidential office, said the sanctions targeting Russian civil aviation and airspace were "central" to Moscow's demands.
"The fact that Russian officials have made lifting aviation sanctions a priority in diplomatic channels underscores their effectiveness," he wrote in the Guardian.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said now is the time for concrete proposals from Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine and if there is no progress, the US will step back.
In his nightly address, Zelensky said progress towards ending the war depended on Russia taking the first step of agreeing to an unconditional ceasefire.
Late on Tuesday at least 45 people were injured in Kharkiv, including a pregnant woman and two children, as swarms of Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian city. Drones also hit Dnipro city, killing at least one person, officials said.
Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna brutally tortured in Russian custody, new investigation reveals
About 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded fighting for Russia, South Korea says
Boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk urges Trump to ‘open his eyes’ over the war in Ukraine
Why Crimea matters so much to Putin – and now Trump
Putin open to Ukraine peace but not as fast as US wants, Kremlin says
Russian president Vladimir Putin is open to peace in Ukraine and intense work is going on with the United States, but the conflict is so complicated that the rapid progress which Washington wants is difficult to achieve, the Kremlin said today.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskoc said president Putin “remains open to political and diplomatic methods of resolving this conflict”.
Mr Peskov said that Russia's aims must be achieved and that Moscow's preference was to achieve those aims peacefully.
He noted that Mr Putin had expressed a willingness for direct talks with Ukraine, but falsely claimed that there had been no answer yet from Kyiv.
"Unfortunately, we haven't heard any statements in this context from Kyiv. So we don't know whether Kyiv is ready or not," Mr Peskov told reporters in English.
He also downplayed US president Donald Trump’s peacemaking efforts.
"We understand that Washington is willing to achieve a quick success in this process," Mr Peskov said in English, but added that the root causes of the Ukraine war are too complex to be resolved in one day.
About 600 North Koreans killed in Ukraine war, South Korean lawmaker says
About 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine out of a total deployment of 15,000 and they have shown signs of improved combat capabilities, South Korean lawmakers said this morning, citing the intelligence agency.
On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un confirmed he signed a military order on sending his troops to fight alongside Russian soldiers in Ukraine war.
Putin's soldiers fighting more intensely despite ceasefire talk, says Ukrainian commander
While publicly Russian president Vladimir Putin has been talking of his wish for a ceasefire, on the battlefield his forces have significantly increased the intensity of their combat activity in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said today.
"Despite loud statements about readiness to cease fire for the May holidays, the occupiers (Russian forces) have significantly increased the intensity of combat actions, focusing their main efforts on the Pokrovsk direction," General Syrskyi said on Telegram.
Pokrovsk is one of the hottest sectors on the Ukrainian war frontline and in the past 24 hours, Russian forces have conducted offensive operations and advanced near the region.
On Monday night, Mr Putin declared a three-day ceasefire from 8-10 May to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in the Second World War.
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has said such limited truces are meaningless, and urged Mr Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.
Russia begins building road bridge to North Korea, Russian PM says
Russia and North Korea have started construction of a road bridge between the two countries that will span the Tumen river, part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia's prime minister said today.
The new road bridge, which has been under discussion for years, will be 850 metres (2789 ft) and link up with the Russian highway system. Its construction was agreed during a visit by president Vladimir Putin to North Korea in 2024.
The construction has started today, PM Mikhail Mishustin said, calling it a significant event in Russian-North Korean relations, reported TASS state news agency.
The bridge is being built near the existing "Friendship Bridge", a rail bridge which was commissioned in 1959 after the Korean war.
"The significance goes far beyond just an engineering task," Mr Mishustin was quoted as saying. "It symbolises our common desire to strengthen friendly, good-neighbourly relations and increase inter-regional cooperation."
Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna brutally tortured in Russian custody, new investigation reveals
Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was brutally tortured in Russian captivity, given electric shocks, and had some of her internal organs removed, a joint media investigation has revealed.
Numerous signs of torture and ill-treatment were found on the journalist’s body returned by Russia, said Yurii Belousov, head of the war crimes department at the Prosecutor General's Office. The experts, who were a part of the investigation, also saw signs of electric shock torture on Roshchyna.
An independent examination of Roshchyna’s body in Ukraine showed that her brain, eyes, and parts of trachea had been removed, the French newsroom Forbidden Stories investigation said.
Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was brutally tortured in Russian custody
Rubio says concrete Ukraine proposals needed now or US will step back
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said now is the time for concrete proposals from Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine and if there is no progress, the US will step back.
State department spokesperson Tammy Bruce cited Mr Rubio as saying that the time had been reached at which "concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict".
"How we proceed from here is a decision that belongs now to the president. If there is not progress, we will step back as mediators in this process," Ms Bruce told a regular news briefing, referring to president Donald Trump.
Zelensky's aide warns against lifting sanctions on Russian skies and aviation
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s close aide has called for continuing western sanctions on Russia’s aviation sector, asking “why should Russians enjoy the freedom of air travel while Ukrainians cannot be safe in their own country?”
Writing in The Guardian today, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukraine’s presidential office, has said that “normalising air links would lift a key restriction on Russians’ daily lives, relieving Moscow of any public pressure for peace”.
The top Ukrainian official flagged Russian aviation sector’s role in “smuggling on behalf of its military”, “circumventing international sanctions by delivering critical components to sanctioned Russian industries” and a charter service that deploys Russia’s troops to the war frontline.
He added: “The fact that Russian officials have made lifting aviation sanctions a priority in diplomatic channels underscores their effectiveness.”
Why Putin’s latest ceasefire raises immediate suspicion
Less than two days after US president Donald Trump lashed out at Vladimir Putin for “tapping me along” over a peace deal, the Russian president has announced another temporary ceasefire – this one scheduled to last three days.
His grand declaration raised immediate suspicion over whether this was yet another stalling tactic from the most conniving of dictators. One designed to keep an increasingly frustrated White House happy: Mr Trump’s top diplomat has even talked this week of pulling out of the entire negotiating process.
The news was met in Ukraine with a large dose of scepticism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even accused Mr Putin of “yet another round of Russian manipulation” to appease Mr Trump.
Kyiv, which has previously agreed to Trump’s proposal of a 30-day full ceasefire, accused Moscow of violating a similar temporary truce during Easter.
Mr Zelensky charged Russia with cynically using that pause to advance, saying Russian assaults persisted on multiple fronts, artillery fire did not subside, and attacks on energy infrastructure were relentless.
“Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians,” he wrote on his X account on Tuesday.
Why Putin’s latest ceasefire raises immediate suspicion
Trump says he thinks Putin wants peace in Ukraine despite recent attacks
President Donald Trump has said he thinks Russian president Vladimir Putin wants to stop Russia's war in Ukraine, despite recent attacks against the beleaguered nation.
Mr Trump responded "I think he does" when asked whether he thinks Mr Putin wants to make peace during an interview with ABC News' Terry Moran.
"If it weren't for me, I think he'd want to take over the whole country," Mr Trump said. "I will tell you, I was not happy when I saw Putin shooting missiles into a few towns and cities."
Putin's ceasefire offer 'illusion that Russia is interested in meaningful peace negotiations'
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s latest offer of a temporary 72-hour ceasefire along the war frontlines in Ukraine is an illusion that Moscow is interested in peace talks, a US-based think tank said.
“Ukraine — unlike Russia — supports US President Donald Trump's proposals for a 30-day temporary ceasefire or more permanent ceasefires,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment.
It added: “ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin is leveraging unilateral ceasefires to achieve informational and battlefield advantages in Ukraine and to maintain the illusion that Russia is interested in meaningful peace negotiations.”
The war monitor has also said that Russian officials are “setting conditions to baselessly accuse Ukraine of violating Russia's unilateral 8 May to 11 May ceasefire, as the Kremlin has done during previous ceasefires, while rejecting Ukraine's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire”.
Russia has consistently accused Ukraine of violating previous ceasefires while rarely offering evidence supporting these accusations, the ISW said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments