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.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, as seen on Sept. 11, 2022. (Stringer / AFP via Getty Images)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has raised concerns that intense fires near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which is under Russian occupation, pose a threat to its external power supply.
Fires have been observed multiple times near the plant and its surrounding areas, including one under overhead power cables crucial for the plant's power.
Although no power lines were shut down, the IAEA emphasized the vulnerability of the plant's external power supply, especially as extreme summer heat continues.
“The vulnerability of the electricity infrastructure across the country remains very concerning. It is essential that the electricity network across all of Ukraine remains stable to help maintain nuclear safety at all nuclear power plants,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
On July 11, The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding that Russia withdraw from the ZNPP and restore full control of the facility to Ukraine.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Its position near the front line has led to heightened nuclear safety risks throughout Russia's full-scale war.
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Kateryna Hodunova
