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.
A Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer in assault gear in an undated photo. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Grigorenko/Getty Images)
A group of unnamed "high-ranking" officials were arrested on charges of stealing around 60 million rubles ($6.7 million) from the budget of Russia's Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the state-run media outlet TASS reported on June 11, citing the press office of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
It was the latest in a string of corruption cases in Russia which have reached the highest echelons of the country's security and military apparatus.
According to the FSB, the "organized group" of individuals, which included government and law enforcement officials, allegedly stole money from a state-funded agricultural development program in Karachay-Cherkessia.
The Karachay-Cherkess Republic is located in Russia's North Caucasus region, bordering Georgia to the south.
The FSB did not provide any more details about the suspects or the case, but said that fraud-related criminal proceedings had been opened.
In April, now-former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was detained on suspicion of bribery, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was reassigned as the head of the country's security council on May 13, replacing Nikolai Patrushev.
Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, the head of the personnel department of the Russian Defense Ministry, was detained on May 13.
At the end of May, Major General Ivan Popov, the former commander of Russia's 58th Army, was arrested on suspicion of fraud.
Following this, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, a deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff and head of the Main Directorate of Communications, was detained for allegedly receiving a large bribe.
Oleg Sukhov
