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.
According to Steve Witkoff, the key topics in the peace discussions are the fate of the five partially or fully occupied Ukrainian regions, the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine's access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.
People walk past posters announcing the upcoming European elections, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France on Jan. 17, 2024. (Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images)
The draft manifesto of the European People's Party (EPP), the largest party in the European Parliament, proposes the European Commission create an EU Defense Commissioner position to improve defense coordination in the bloc, Euractiv reported on Jan. 18.
Euractiv said it had seen a copy of the draft manifesto, which will be published ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections in June, and that the proposed reshuffle would radically change how the European Commission deals with foreign affairs and defense.
Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is currently the chief diplomat of the EU.
The separate post of Commissioner for Defense would take on tasks "currently shared by both the EU diplomacy boss Borrell as well as Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who has been in charge of the bloc's defense industry," Euractiv reported.
A Defense Commissioner would promote cooperation on defense issues and ensure that there is a defense budget of at least 0.5% of EU GDP, the EPP believes.
"Ultimately, we should create a Single Market for Defense," the draft manifesto states, according to Euractiv.
Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren also called for a European commissioner dedicated to defense in an interview with CNBC on Jan. 17. "We cannot do it the old way," she said, referring to European defense production.
Breton has a "huge portfolio," whereas a European Commissioner could "dedicate almost all his or her time to dealing with this defense industry" and related issues like standardization, interoperability, and creating new funding for the industry, Ollongren said.
"What we need is more focus on the issue of the defense industry" at a European level, Ollongren said. "We have to step up production."
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba commented in November that Europe was unlikely to meet its pledge of delivering one million shells to Ukraine not due to a lack of political will, but a "lot of unsynchronized issues, a lot of bureaucracy."
The bloc's plan to ramp up shell production to boost Ukraine's artillery capabilities has been plagued by bureaucracy and protectionism of individual countries, an investigation by the Kyiv Independent and its partners revealed.
Oleksiy Sorokin
