In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
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.
An aerial view of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces building, also known as the Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, July 6, 2023, in Moscow, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Members of Russia's military intelligence (GRU) created false identities to blend in with domestic civil society networks and conduct espionage on their activities, the independent Russian media outlet The Insider reported on Feb. 5.
The Insider has published a series of investigations into alleged Russian intelligence agents in Europe in recent weeks, including a Latvian member of the European Parliament and an advisor to a German lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
The Insider's Feb. 5 report detailed three alleged Russian agents who instead reportedly focused on domestic spying on civil society organizations perceived as being potential opponents of the regime.
The alleged agents, who The Insider said posed as a human rights activist, a documentary filmmaker, and a journalist, are allegedly associated with the GRU Unit 29155, best known for reportedly being responsible for the 2011 Novichok poisoning of Russian dissident Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K.
While Skripal and his daughter survived the attempt, a U.K. national was killed by the same type of poison in an incident that many assumed was connected with the Skripal case.
The involvement of the GRU Unit 29155 in domestic espionage of civil society organizations illustrates "just how seriously the Kremlin took the 'threat' of Russians anywhere exercising their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly," The Insider wrote.
One of the agents allegedly infiltrated well-known Russian human rights organizations such as the Free Russia Forum, the Moscow Sakharov Center, and the Moscow Helsinki Group.
The Insider wrote that the activities of the "journalist" and the "documentary filmmaker" were less clear.
The GRU does not have official permission to operate within Russia, "suggesting that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has grown so confident of the capabilities of his notorious black ops team that he has tasked it with keeping an eye on his enemies at home, even as it continues to track its enemies abroad," The Insider wrote.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Mariia Tril
