The blockade ended at 10:30 p.m. local time. Truck traffic in both directions is now moving as usual, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard's statement.
Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
Destruction caused by a Russian airstrike on Shostka in Sumy Oblast on April 16, 2023. (Prosecutor General's Office/Telegram)
Russian forces dropped an aerial bomb on a psychoneurological boarding house in the Shostka community of Ukraine's northern Sumy Oblast, injuring a 70-year-old woman, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on April 16.
The building was badly damaged by the airstrike, leaving the 167 patients housed in it without a roof over their heads, the report said.
Sumy Oblast, which was partly occupied in the first phase of Russia's full-scale invasion, has been under constant, near-daily shelling since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in late February 2022.
The Prosecutor General’s Office earlier said that Russian forces struck the Snihurivka community in Mykolaiv Oblast overnight on April 16, killing two teenagers born in 2005, with around 10 S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
The attack damaged an educational institution and private houses.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Asami Terajima
