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 scene after a training grenade exploded in Zigzag, a cafe in Kyiv, on Aug. 14, 2024. (Kristina Berdynskykh/Facebook)
A training grenade was detonated in a popular cafe in the center of Kyiv on Aug. 14, causing a loud explosion, locals present said. There were no injuries or damage to the cafe, an employee told the Kyiv Independent.
Zigzag, the cafe where the explosion occurred, is located in Kyiv's central Golden Gate neighborhood and is a popular establishment in the area with both locals and foreigners.
Kristina Berdynskykh, who was at Zigzag at the time of the explosion, told the Kyiv Independent that she was sitting at a table and saw a man with something in his hands at the bar.
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Footage of the explosion at Zigzag cafe on Aug. 14, 2024. (Zigzag/Facebook)
"At first, it was a small sound," Berdynskykh said, "and then (a) huge explosion."
A bartender told Berdynskykh that a man had brought the grenade to the bar. The man left before the police arrived, who said they discovered fragments of the grenade after they arrived.
Berdynskykh said she still had the sound of the explosion ringing in her ears after she left the cafe.
The cafe stayed open after the explosion and locals reported that diners remained inside even as the police investigated the incident.
Ukrainska Pravda wrote, citing sources in law enforcement, that there was no currently no indication of malicious intent connected to the explosion.
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.
Daria Svitlyk
