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.
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.
Personal documents of Colonel Andrei Stesyev, a senior Russian officer reportedly killed in fighting in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, between June 4 and 5. (Source: Main Directorate of Intelligence / Official Telegram channel)
A senior Russian officer was killed in Belgorod Oblast on the night of June 5, Ukraine's military intelligence reported.
The 52-year-old Colonel Andrei Vasilyevich Stesyev, a senior officer in the Operational Group "Belgorod," was killed in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka near Russo-Ukrainian borders.
According to the Free Russia Legion, an anti-Kremlin armed group that claims to fight on Ukraine’s side, Stesyev was killed in an engagement with the militias.
The Legion has reportedly engaged with Moscow's troops in Novaya Tavolzhanka during the past few days, fighting beside another anti-Kremlin militia, the Russian Volunteer Corps.
Ukraine's military intelligence identified the officer as a former commander of the 104th Guards Air Assault Regiment, which has been accused of taking part in the March 2022 Bucha massacre.
On June 4, the Russian Volunteer Corps announced yet another incursion in Belgorod Oblast. Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported ongoing fighting in Novaya Tavolzhanka the same day.
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.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
