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.
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko's statement came as Strong Shield 5 exercises involving military personnel from other NATO countries began in Lithuania.
"Amendments to the Budget Code are needed to implement the provisions on funding the U.S.-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund," lawmaker Roksolana Pidlasa said.
During reconnaissance in an unspecified front-line sector, Special Operations Forces' operators detected Buk-M3 and Uragan-1 on combat duty, the unit said.
The suspect quit his job at the Rivne NPP before the full-scale war began. In the spring of 2025, a GRU liaison contacted him and offered cooperation in exchange for money.
President Volodymyr Zelensky would not meet any other Russian official apart from Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul this week, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on the Breakfast Show program on May 13.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov in Kyiv on Sept. 5, 2023. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on March 16 on national television that anti-Kremlin militias were becoming "a force" and Ukraine would help them in their operations on Russian territory.
The Freedom of Russia Legion, the Siberian Battalion, and the Russian Volunteer Corps launched cross-border incursions into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk oblasts on March 12, allegedly resulting in clashes with Russian forces in several settlements.
"No doubt the subjectivity (of anti-Kremlin militias) has been shaping up, they cannot be called a 'grouping' anymore, now they are becoming a force," Budanov said, adding that anti-Kremlin militias act together relying on the common vision of Russia's transformation.
Anti-Kremlin Russian units do not plan to stop in the near future and "will do everything in their abilities", Budanov said.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief also added that anti-Kremlin militias had been helping Ukraine from the very beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, and Ukrainian forces would try to support them as well "to the extent possible."
The Freedom of Russia Legion on March 16 reiterated its call to the citizens of Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts to evacuate from the region, as a "mass attack on Putin's troops" would continue.
Earlier on March 16, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod Oblast, claimed that Belgorod and the surrounding region came under a rocket attack. It was the second reported attack against the city in a single day.
Ukrainian officials did not comment on the claims, which cannot be independently verified.
Belgorod lies less than 40 kilometers (around 25 miles) north of the border with Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast. Local officials have alleged strikes against the city multiple times throughout the full-scale war, for example, on March 14.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Emmanuelle Chaze
