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.
Commanders of battalions and divisions of Ukraine's 80th Separate Galician Air Assault Brigade are addressing military-political leadership. (Screenshot of the video Ukrainska Pravda)
Emil Ishkulov, commander of Ukraine's 80th Air Assault Brigade, will be promoted to a higher position, the command of Air Assault Forces said on July 29 after an appeal from high-ranking officers opposed to his imminent dismissal.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainska Pravda published an address from the brigade, in which commanders called on Ukraine's political and military leadership to keep Ishkulov in his post.
The address was reportedly provoked by the officers finding out about plans to dismiss the commander.
"We don't understand why commanders who have unquestioned authority among the personnel, who have a victorious combat record and experience of a big war, are out of favor to the top leadership of the Armed Forces," the commanders said in the video.
The reason for Ishkulov's dismissal was that he "opposed a task that didn't correspond to the brigade's strength," Ukrainska Pravda wrote without specifying its sources.
Soon after, the command of Air Assault Forces said that this information was "inaccurate" and contained "incorrect interpretations."
Praising Ishkulov's "invaluable experience," the military said that the colonel would be promoted to a higher position by the military leadership.
"This will allow him to apply his knowledge, skills and leadership qualities gained during the planning and organization of combat operations on the scale of the Air Assault Forces of Ukraine's Armed Forces," the statement read.
This is the second appeal in recent weeks by the Ukrainian military in support of a brigade commander allegedly about to be removed. On July 15, soldiers from Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade spoke out to oppose the dismissal of its commander, Ivan Holishevskyi.
Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Krotevych, one of the Azov Brigade's commanders, said on June 23 that he filed an official complaint to the State Bureau of Investigation calling for an investigation into a high-ranking general, later confirmed to be Sodol, who was accused of being responsible for the deaths "of more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general."
The Kyiv Independent news desk
