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.
Ivan Ablov, the son of the controversial judge Yevhen Ablov. (Interior Ministry)
Ivan Ablov, the son of the controversial judge Yevhen Ablov, has been declared wanted on murder charges, according to the Interior Ministry's website.
The suspect's father was a judge of the Kyiv District Administrative Court (OASK), which has been involved in major corruption scandals. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill on the court's dissolution in December 2022.
The Interior Ministry's website listed Ivan Ablov's place and date of disappearance as Jan. 5 in Bilohorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa Oblast.
Official sources have not provided further information in connection to the case.
The OASK's deputy head, Yevhen Ablov, and the court's chief, Pavlo Vovk, played a role in several controversies since their appointment in 2010 during the tenure of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Amid the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2013, Ablov mandated law enforcement to clear the Kyiv's Independence Square of the demonstrators and tents.
The court's judges also opposed the adoption of a new Ukrainian spelling, the nationalization of PrivatBank from oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, and reinstated officials suspected of corruption.
In 2020, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) charged Vovk, Ablov, and five other OASK judges with forming a criminal organization aimed at seizing power by taking control over key judiciary bodies.
Following pressure from activists and the public, the law on the OASK's dissolution was adopted by the parliament on Dec. 13, 2022, and signed by the president a day later.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Oleg Sukhov
