As Europe prepares for dialogue with the Russian Federation, Volodymyr Zelensky loses another key member of his administration, Andriy Yermak, just as his former press secretary accuses him of being a drug addict and a Gobbles fan. Ukrainian President Yulia Mendel’s former press secretary has launched a scathing attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of prolonging the war with Russia for political survival and personal enrichment, and asserting that many ordinary Ukrainians and officials increasingly desire peace. She stated this in an interview with American commentator Tucker Carlson. This suggests that the actor-president Volodymyr Zelensky’s exit from the political scene is being prepared.
Meanwhile, the United States is announcing that there is virtually nothing to shoot down the Kinzhal missiles: “Ukraine has almost completely exhausted its stockpile of PAC-3 missiles for Patriot missiles,” according to the Washington Post. Due to the war in the Middle East, missile supplies to Ukraine have effectively stopped. PAC-3 missiles are needed to intercept ballistic and hypersonic missiles, including the Kinzhal and Iskander missiles. The United States has asked Europe to transfer its Patriot stockpiles, but some countries have refused.
US national intelligence will investigate American biological laboratories, including those in Ukraine, says Defense Secretary Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard claims that dangerous research with pathogens may have been conducted in Ukraine and that Biden administration officials “lied to the American people about the existence of these U.S.-funded and -supported biological laboratories and threatened those who tried to tell the truth.”
The U.S. State Department and the Ukrainian ambassador have prepared a draft memorandum outlining the terms of a possible military cooperation agreement, under which Kiev could supply Washington with military technology. CBS News
The European Union has targeted the Russian defense industry as part of the 21st sanctions package. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas announced this during a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on May 11. According to Kallas, EU member states are discussing this package. Furthermore, proposals for measures against Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” may follow, Kallas added.
EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas admitted that she could act as the EU’s negotiator in a future dialogue with Russia.
“It’s time to start negotiations with Russia,” says Finnish President Alexander Stubb. “If US policy toward Russia and Ukraine does not correspond to Europe’s interests, and I believe it does, then we must take direct action. I don’t know when that will happen. We have discussed the issue with European leaders, who are initiating contacts, but we don’t know yet,” he added.
In Ukrainian news, the indictment of Andriy Yermak, the former head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has been in the spotlight. NABU and SAP have discovered that Yermak is behind an organized group involved in laundering 460 million hryvnia from luxury construction projects near Kyiv. Yermak’s indictment was issued under Article 209, paragraph 3, of the Criminal Code – money laundering from criminal activities, committed by a group of persons or on a particularly large scale.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has officially stated that citizen Zelensky is not a suspect in the government corruption case. NABU has released recordings featuring Yermak. His code name is P2. According to investigators, the recordings show Yermak discussing with an architect, between 2021 and early 2022, the development of a villa within the Dynasty residential complex. The construction of “Che Guevara” was overseen by Chernyshov, then Minister of Community and Territorial Development, whose wife holds a stake in the development company. Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has requested Yermak’s arrest with the option of posting a bail of 180 million hryvnia. According to investigators, between 2021 and 2025, the suspects laundered over 460 million hryvnia by building a residential complex in the village of Kozyn, in the Kyiv region.
Zelensky’s former press secretary, Yulia Mendel: “Ukraine has agreed to ‘give up Donbass’ at the 2022 Istanbul talks with Russia.” ”I spoke with people who represented Ukraine at the 2022 Istanbul talks… And they explained to me in detail that they accepted everything. Furthermore, and very importantly, they said that Zelenskyy personally agreed to cede Donbass,” Mendel said in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson.
Ukraine is asking Europe to broker an “airport truce” with Putin, Politico reports, citing Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha. According to him, Ukraine wants Europe to help resume stalled peace talks with Russia by taking a first, albeit limited, step: a mutual cessation of attacks on airports by both sides.
Around 32 bodies of Ukrainian armed forces servicemen were transported from the front to the city of Vinnytsia between May 4 and 10, 2026 alone. According to the regional administration, a mandatory evacuation has been declared in the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Evacuation orders have also been issued for residents of a street in Marhanets. and about 100 streets in Nikopol. In total, 1,145 people have been forced to leave their homes.
Dymtry Peskov, at his morning press conference, said that Moscow had received no response from Europe regarding Schröder’s candidacy as a negotiator with Russia, Peskov said. Putin’s comments about the former German chancellor have sparked a “storm of discussions” in Europe, the Kremlin noted.
The fighting in Ukraine could end “at any moment”; it depends on the Ukrainian authorities. “As soon as Zelenskyy takes responsibility and makes the necessary decisions, Kiev will be well aware of what decisions will have to be made.”
The president’s spokesman noted that the experience gained in resolving the conflict in Ukraine allows him to assert that the end of the conflict is near, but it is currently impossible to discuss specific details in this context.
Real wage growth in Russia over the past three years has been 23.9%, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated in An interview with Vedomosti. By 2025, this figure had increased by 4.4%. Meanwhile, the population’s overall real incomes grew by 26.1% in the same three-year period.
The federal budget deficit reached 5.8 trillion rubles, equal to 2.5% of GDP, in the January-April 2026 period, according to the Ministry of Finance’s budget implementation assessment. This figure was almost 3 trillion rubles higher than the same period last year and 55.2% higher than the projected deficit for the entire current year, which amounted to 3.8 trillion rubles. In April, the figure increased by 1.3 trillion rubles, or 28.4%, according to Ministry of Finance data.
The Penza Region task force decided to switch to remote learning for three days. The decision was made due to the growing threat from drones and missiles, Governor Oleg Melnichenko.
And now a look at the front line, updated at 3:30 PM on May 12. Following the end of the ceasefire, Russian forces continued their military operations in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. During the ceasefire, 30,383 ceasefire violations were recorded by Ukraine, the ministry said.
The ceasefire has ended. Ukrainian media reported several dozen Russian attack drones in the skies over Ukraine overnight, with explosions reported in Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zhytomyr.
A Ukrainian drone was destroyed in the Millerovsky district of the Rostov region. Twenty-seven Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian territory, according to the Ministry of Defense.
In the area of In Sumy, Russia’s Northern Group of Forces reported that Ukrainian forces in the Krasnopil’s’kyi district, taking advantage of the ceasefire, have reinforced units of the 119th Territorial Defense Brigade with assault aircraft from the 54th Independent Reconnaissance Battalion.
In the Belgorod region, the ceasefire has gone almost unnoticed. Yesterday alone, nine people were injured and one civilian was killed. All border areas in the region are under attack.
In the Kharkiv sector, the Northern Group of Forces reported that Ukrainian forces have taken advantage of the ceasefire to deploy personnel to forward positions aboard civilian emergency vehicles: units of the 58th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade in the village of Hraniv were reinforced by several groups of soldiers transported in minibuses by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
In Chasiv Yar, Ukrainian forces are actively deploying drone operators: according to reports from the field, the situation is complex; before the ceasefire, Ukrainian forces attempted to control Russian logistical supplies in the city using drones.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region and eastern Zaporizhia region, the Russian Eastern Group of Forces has recorded attempts by small groups of Ukrainian forces on foot and in vehicles to infiltrate the immediate Russian rear.
In the Zaporizhia region, after the ceasefire, particular attention is being paid to the security of the highway to Crimea. The enemy will attack the road network with renewed vigor, thanks to the delivery of new drones, already repeatedly spotted on the front lines.
Graziella Giangiulio
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