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.
U.S. and European officials held talks on May 12, during which Washington made it clear that it wanted to allow talks between Russia and Ukraine before increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin, sources told Bloomberg.
The Kyiv Independent reporter Francis Farrell holds a cat during a field trip in Velyka Novosilka, Donetsk Oblast, on Sept. 11, 2023. (Anastasia Vlasova)
A story by the Kyiv Independent's reporter Francis Farrell, "One Night in Bakhmut: Civilians Wait for the End as Russia Draws Closer," has been shortlisted for the European Press Prize 2024 in the Distinguished Reporting category.
This piece tells the story of civilians and first responders in Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast indirectly through the personal experience of Farrell, who stayed overnight in the embattled city in January 2023, traveling together with a colleague from Moldova.
The story was published mere months before Russian forces took Bakhmut after a long and gruesome siege.
The European Press Prize, which "celebrates the highest achievements in European journalism," was founded in 2012 and is awarded on a yearly basis. The 2024 edition of the Prize selected four other nominees for the Distinguished Reporting category.
The Kyiv Independent's story "Suicide missions, abuse, physical threats: International Legion fighters speak out against leadership’s misconduct," written by Anna Myroniuk and Alexander Khrebet, won the European Press Prize 2023 in the Special Award category.
Farrell also won the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for war correspondents in the Young Reporter (print) category in October 2023.
Francis Farrell
