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.
Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire on a site following an air attack in the Odesa region, Ukraine, on Aug. 26, 2024. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Oleksandr Gimanov / AFP via Getty Images)
Blackouts and "strict" electricity restrictions may last another one to two weeks following the previous day's mass Russian strike across Ukraine that damaged energy infrastructure, said Ivan Plachkov, president of the All-Ukrainian Energy Assembly, in comments on the Kyiv24 television channel on Aug. 27.
Plachkov, who formerly served as Energy Minister, said that it was "one of the most massive attacks on energy infrastructure," with the goal of causing "a total blackout in the energy system."
While Russia was unsuccessful in that goal, Plachkov said the energy situation is very difficult and will require extensive repairs.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry corroborated that it was one of the largest attacks on energy infrastructure and said that the consequences were still being determined. One employee of the Energy Ministry was killed in the attack, and another was injured, the ministry said.
Scheduled blackouts would be in effect throughout the day, the ministry said, adding that emergency power supplies were received from Slovakia and Poland after the attack.
The ministry said that "large-scale" repairs are underway and that employees were working to ensure the "stability and integrity of the power system and prepare it for the autumn-winter period."
Dinara Khalilova
