May 17, 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of deliberately killing civilians in its drone attack on a bus in the northeastern Sumy region. 

Nine people died in Saturday's attack in the town of Bilopillia, some around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Russia. 

"All the deceased were civilians. And the Russians could not have failed to understand what kind of vehicle they were targeting. This was a deliberate killing of civilians," Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Ukrainian officials said the bus was evacuating civilians from the town when the strike happened.

Seven people were injured, according to Ukrainian officials, three of them seriously. 

Zelenskyy said they suffered burns and broken bones. 

British Foreign Minister David Lammy also condemned the attack. 

"Appalled by Russia's attack in Sumy, mere hours after talks," Lammy posted on X, referring to talks between Ukraine and Russia held in Turkey on Friday.

"If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is serious about peace, Russia must agree to a full and immediate ceasefire, as Ukraine has done," he said.

Independent sources have not verified if the bus was indeed carrying civilians.

May 17, 2025

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he was sure that his US counterpart, Donald Trump, would "react" to Russian President Vladimir Putin's "cynicism" on peace talks with Ukraine, following the latest Russian drone attack on its neighbor.

"Faced with the cynicism of President Putin, I am sure that President Trump, mindful of the credibility of the United States of America, will react," Macron said during a visit to Albania.

"A president was elected by the American people. He arrived with a laudable ambition: to make peace. And he said he would engage everyone in making peace," Macron added. 

On Friday, Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on Trump to denounce Russia's "refusal" of a ceasefire and to increase pressure on Moscow.

"The ceasefire proposals, which I remind you are an American initiative, have not been respected by President Putin and his armies," Macron further insisted on Saturday.

"We put together the coalition of the willing, then together called President Trump, saying: 'Look, we're all behind the ceasefire, we shall all recommit ourselves behind a coalition of the willing with security guarantees,'" Macron stressed during his trip to Tirana, which hosted a summit of European leaders on Friday.

May 17, 2025

The Kremlin has said that Ukraine and Russia must first complete an agreed prisoner-of-war exchange and come up with ceasefire conditions before planning any new talks.

"For now, we need to do what the delegations agreed" on Friday in Turkey, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists when asked if there were plans for a second round of talks. 

"This, of course, means first and foremost to complete a 1,000 for 1,000 [POW] swap," he said on Saturday.

Russia and Ukrainian delegations on Friday held the first face-to-face talks in three years. 

Peskov also said that Russia's President Vladimir Putin could meet Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as proposed by Ukraine, but only if certain agreements were reached.

He didn't specify what these agreements could be.

Zelenskyy has traveled to Turkey for talks, but Putin sent a lower-level team of negotiators. 

May 17, 2025

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said surveillance in the Baltic Sea region has been stepped up following suspected Russian sabotage of underwater infrastructure. 

In comments to Welt am Sonntag, Wadephul warned of Russia’s "shadow fleet" — sanctions-evading ships allegedly linked to damage of cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

"We, as neighbors, NATO and the EU, are countering hybrid threats with all our might, including further patrols," Wadephul said in comments released online Saturday ahead of the paper's publication. 

"In the Baltic Sea region, Russia threatens us all," he said, citing recent incidents of severed cables, signal jamming, unauthorized ship activity and gas pipeline outages since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The German foreign minister called the shadow fleet a security risk and said the European Union will impose further sanctions directly on these ships. 

"This also helps Ukraine, as the shadow fleet transports oil every day that Russia sells by bypassing sanctions," he said.

In January, a Norwegian cargo ship with an all-Russian crew, the Silver Dania, was seized in Norway for suspected undersea cable damaging but was cleared of wrongdoing and released.

The EU is set to adopt a 17th sanctions package on Tuesday, tightening measures against the shadow fleet transporting Russian oil and oil products. 

About 84% of Russia's crude oil exports pass through the Baltic Sea.

May 17, 2025

Russia on Saturday said its drones struck a Ukrainian military equipment staging area in the Sumy region.

The Russian Defense Ministry statement was reported by the TASS state news agency.

The announcement came after local Ukrainian officials reported that a Russian drone attack on a civilian minibus in Ukraine’s Sumy region killed nine people and injured four others on Saturday. 

Ukraine’s National Police posted photos on Telegram sharing images of a nearly destroyed passenger van with the roof ripped off and the windows blown out.

The police condemned the strike, which occurred near the city of Bilopillya, as a "cynical war crime." 

The attack came just hours after Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in nearly three years. The negotiations failed to secure a ceasefire, though both sides agreed to a major prisoner exchange.

May 17, 2025

Australia on Saturday condemned a Russian-controlled court's sentencing of an Australian citizen to 13 years in a penal colony for fighting with Ukrainian forces.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the verdict a "sham trial" and said Oscar Jenkins, as a member of Ukraine's regular armed forces, must be treated as a prisoner of war under international law.

Jenkins, a 33-year-old Australian man from Melbourne, was convicted of being a "mercenary in an armed conflict" and sentenced by a Russian-installed court in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region.

"As a full-serving member of the regular Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mr Jenkins is a prisoner of war," said Wong. "The Australian Government has made clear to Russia that Mr Jenkins must be given the protections afforded to him as a prisoner of war. Russia is obligated to treat him in accordance with international humanitarian law, including humane treatment."

She said Australia would work with Ukraine and the Red Cross to ensure Jenkins' welfare and seek his release.

Jenkins was captured last year while serving in Ukraine's military.

Russia considers foreigners who travel to Ukraine to fight as "mercenaries" and prosecutes them under its criminal code rather than treating them as prisoners of war, who are protected by the Geneva Convention.

May 17, 2025

At least eight people were killed in a Russian attack on a civilian bus in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. 

The attack also left five people injured.

Ihor Tkachenko, head of Sumy's military administration, announced the attack on Telegram, adding that "medics and rescuers have been urgently sent to the scene."

The strike came just hours after rare direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey. 

The lower-level delegation meeting marked the first direct negotiations between the two countries since the early weeks of Russia's invasion.

May 17, 2025

Shakeel Sobhan | Sean Sinico

Ukrainian officials said at least eight people were killed in a Russian attack on a civilian bus in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday.

The strike came just hours after rare direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

DW will bring you the latest news, analysis and insight from our reporters and correspondents regarding Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Stay tuned for more.