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.
View of the Antonivsky bridge, from Antonivka, near Kherson on Nov. 22, 2022. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Ukrainian forces had established a presence in the Krynky settlement on the Russian-held Dnipro River's left bank in Kherson Oblast, the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment on Oct. 20.
Geolocated footage published on Oct. 19 indicates that Ukrainian forces advanced into the northeastern part of Krynky, a village 35 kilometers east of Kherson and two kilometers southeast of the Dnipro River, the ISW reported.
Russian military bloggers also claimed that Ukraine is trying to establish a foothold near Krynky and continues to maintain a presence near the Antonivsky bridges, only a few kilometers east of Kherson.
The Ukrainian military reported on Oct. 18 and 19 that Russian forces launched air strikes against the village of Pishchanivka – around 15 kilometers east of Kherson – on the Dnipro's left bank, implying Ukrainian presence in the settlement.
Around the same time, Russian Telegram channels claimed that Ukraine had taken territory in the area.
The U.K. Defense Ministry said in July that Ukrainian forces are maintaining a beachhead near the Antonivsky Bridge. A month later, The Kyiv Independent reportedthat Ukrainian troops were conducting small overnight raids into the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast for months.
Ukrainian forces reportedly gained a foothold near the village of Kozachi Laheri, some 27 kilometers northeast of Kherson, on Aug. 8.
Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the Dnipro River's west bank in November 2022. Russian forces were pushed to the east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories.
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.
Alexander Query
