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.
This general view shows grain silos encroached by floodwaters in Kherson on June 8, 2023, as water levels rose in the city following damage sustained at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam. (Photo by Aleksey Filippov/AFP via Getty Images)
Laboratory analysis has confirmed the presence of E. coli and cholera in the waters near the city of Kherson following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, but not in high concentrations, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Military Media Center reported on June 13.
According to Oleh Pavlenko, an official from the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, fuel and other toxic chemicals were also found in the water.
Water analysis is being conducted daily, and while strains of E. coli and cholera have been detected, there were no notable concentrations of any pollutants.
The President's Office previously reported on June 6 that at least 150 tons of machine oil had spilled into the Dnipro River after the Kahovka dam collapsed, and an additional 300 tons risked leaking into the river.
The Health Ministry also warned on June 7 that "chemicals, infectious disease pathogens from cemeteries, sewage treatment plants, and landfills may end up in wells and open water bodies" due to flooding caused in Kherson Oblast and parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast by the Kakhovka dam's destruction.
Local residents were urged to drink only boiled or imported water and to take water for cooking from source points that are verifiably safe. Food products, including canned goods, could not be consumed if contaminated by flooding, the Health Ministry added.
Kate Tsurkan is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent who writes mostly about culture-related topics in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Her newsletter Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan, which focuses specifically on Ukrainian culture, is published weekly by the Kyiv Independent. The U.S. publisher Deep Vellum published her co-translation of Ukrainian author Oleh Sentsov’s Diary of a Hunger Striker in 2024. Some of her other writing and translations have appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Harpers, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She is the co-founder of Apofenie Magazine.
Igor Kossov
