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.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
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.
An investigator inspects an alleged Russian torture chamber in Mykolaiv Oblast. (Courtesy of Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine)
Ukrainian prosecutors have discovered a torture chamber set up by Russian occupying forces in the village of Oleksandrivka in Mykolaiv Oblast, Prosecutor General’s Office said on Jan. 3.
Russian special services arranged the torture chamber in a seized private house, where they detained and “brutally tortured” local residents who refused to cooperate, according to prosecutors.
According to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), which also reported the finding, Russian forces had suffocated the victims with plastic bags, beat them with heavy objects, and used electroshocks against them, trying to elicit “the addresses of Ukrainian patriots, particularly members of the resistance movement.”
During the inspection of the torture chamber, law enforcement officers discovered “instruments” of torture, SBU said.
They also reportedly identified Ukrainian citizens who were illegally kept and tortured there by Russian occupying forces for a month.
Some 54 torture chambers have been discovered so far in territories liberated from Russian occupation, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Dec. 23.
The prosecutors reported they were investigating over 5,079 cases of torture, bodily harm, or other inhumane treatment allegedly committed by Russian troops.
The Kyiv Independent is an award-winning English-language media outlet that offers on-the-ground reporting from Ukraine. The publication has received international recognition for its coverage of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
