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.
Protesters hold a huge white-red-white flag during the Belarusians' march on the third anniversary of the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, Vilnius, Lithuania, on Aug. 9, 2023. (Yerchak Yauhen/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Lithuania plans to screen 18,000 Belarusians who came to the country before 2022 and require them to fill out a questionnaire that asks, among other questions, their view on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Migration Department Director Evelina Gudzinskaite told Lithuanian news agency ELTA on Feb. 27.
The questionnaire has been required since November 2022 for all Russians and Belarusians moving to Lithuania.
Lithuania's population of 2.8 million includes 224,800 foreigners, including 62,500 Belarusians.
Thousands of Belarusians fled to Lithuania after Alexander Lukashenko's regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters following the 2020 presidential elections, which were widely condemned as fraudulent. Vilnius is a 2.5-hour drive from Minsk, making it the closest European capital for many in Belarus.
The answers of the 18,000 Belarusians who have not yet filled out the questionnaire will be assessed, and if "negative information" is found, the State Security Department will be consulted for a further decision, Gudzinskaite said.
If the State Security Department "concludes that the person is a threat to state security, the residence permit will be revoked."
"If a person does not answer the questionnaire, it will be interpreted against them," Gudzinskaite said.
According to New Eastern Europe, the questionnaire is not publicly available, but asks respondents to indicate who they believe Crimea belongs to, among other questions.
As a result of answers in the questionnaire, so far 1,644 Belarusians and 397 Russians were deemed to pose a threat to Lithuania’s national security, Baltic news site Delfi reported.
From March, only two border crossings between Lithuania and Belarus will be operational, after Vilnius announced on Feb. 21 that two checkpoints will be closed. Lithuania previously shut down two of its six border crossings in August 2023.
"This decision was also determined by the risks associated with the increased activities of the Belarusian intelligence and security services against Lithuania and our citizens," Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said.
Elsa Court is the audience development manager at the Kyiv Independence. She previously worked as a news editor at the Kyiv Independent and was previously an intern at the Kyiv Post. She has a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Elsa is originally from the UK.
Kate Tsurkan
