Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for Saturday's grand final.
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.
A fragment of a Russian Kalibr missile remains in front of the Kharkiv Regional Administration on July 11, 2023 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Photo credit: Valentyna Polishchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Russia's arsenal currently includes at least 585 missiles with a range of over 500 kilometers, not counting older Kh-22 missiles, spokesperson of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) Vadym Skibitskyi told RBC-Ukraine on Aug. 28.
Russian forces possess around 270 Iskander ballistic and cruise missiles, 140 Kalibr cruise missiles, roughly 100 cruise missiles of Kh-101, Kh-555, and Kh-55 designs, and around 75 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, according to Skibitskyi.
In addition, Russia likely has around 150 older Kh-22 missiles in stock, which it seeks to modernize and transform into Kh-32 missiles. At the moment, the Russian industry can deliver no more than 10 units of this newer model every month, the spokesperson said.
As RBC-Ukraine noted, Russia decreased the frequency of its missile strikes in the summer months compared to May. According to the HUR's spokesperson, Russian forces are becoming more selective with their targets and use the missiles more sparingly.
This is likely part of Russia's strategy to accumulate its arsenal ahead of the winter season, Skibitskyi said. It is also one of the reasons why Russian forces use the advanced Kh-101 missiles less often, he added.
Another factor is that the Russian defense industry fails to reach its production targets due to a shortage of foreign components, he added.
As a result, while Russia planned to produce six Kinzhals, 42 Iskanders, 20 Kalibrs, and 40 Kh-101s this month, it lags behind its targets in the case of some of these models, namely Kh-101, Skibitskyi said.
In addition to its missile stockpiles, Russia also plans to produce up to 1,300 units of domestic-made versions of Shahed kamikaze drones in the second half of 2023, the military intelligence told RBC-Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Moscow is likely to intensify its strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the following fall and winter as it did in late 2022 and early 2023.
However, the HUR's spokesperson said that while Russian forces will likely increase the frequency of their strikes, these will not reach the scale of the previous fall and winter when Russia at times launched around 70-100 missiles at the same time.
Moscow has likely realized that such attacks do not reach the desired strategic goal and only serve to exhaust its stockpiles, Skibitskyi noted.
Kyiv has appealed to its Western partners to curb Russia's ability to acquire foreign-made components needed to produce its missiles. In June, the Ukrainian news site Liga.net reported that up to 81% of foreign components found in Russian missiles originate in the U.S.
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.
Martin Fornusek
