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 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.
An elderly voter casts his ballot in Polish parliamentary elections on Oct. 15, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Poles are casting their ballots in the parliamentary elections on Oct. 15 as the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party seeks to secure a third consecutive term in power.
The result will shape the future of Polish-Ukrainian relations, which have been marked by diplomatic disputes over the past few weeks.
Traditionally, the PiS-led government has been a staunch ally of Ukraine against Russian aggression, both in terms of humanitarian and military support.
More recently, however, Warsaw clashed with Kyiv over Poland's decision to prolong the Ukrainian grain import ban past the Sept. 15 deadline set by the EU. The tensions were further aggravated by strong statements from politicians on both sides.
Some experts believe that this shift in PiS's rhetoric was driven by the growing war and refugee fatigue among some segments of the Polish population. The ruling party supposedly adopted a harsher stance toward Kyiv to stop the shift of its voters to more radical factions.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, elected with PiS's support, has attempted to calm the tensions and assured Ukraine of the continued military support but emphasized that when it comes to mutual ties, the interests of Poles will always come first.
According to the polls, conservative-populist PiS is likely to secure the first place with up to 37% but unlikely to win enough mandates to form a new government on its own.
Its strongest challenger is the liberal-centrist Civic Coalition (KO), polling around 30% and led by former Prime Minister and ex-European Council President Donald Tusk.
KO's leader promised to restore Poland's pro-EU direction after PiS's clashes with Brussels over the rule of law. The liberal coalition has also backed ongoing support for Kyiv and for Ukraine's accession to the EU.
To form a new government, Tusk will likely need the support of two other players – the New Left and the Third Way coalition, the latter being composed of the agrarian Polish People's Party and the centrist Poland 2050 movement of Szymon Holownia. Both of them poll at around 10%.
The fifth political force is the far-right Confederation Liberty and Independence, currently polling a little under 10%. Its socially conservative and eurosceptic messaging makes it the most logical coalition candidate for PiS. However, leaders of both parties have in the past spoken against such an alliance.
The Confederation is also the most skeptical when it comes to supporting Ukraine. Its leaders have called for a more "transactional" and restrained approach when it comes to backing Kyiv.
Some of its more radical members have even promoted pro-Kremlin propaganda and decried the alleged "Ukrainization of Poland" by Ukrainian war refugees.
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.
Joanna Kozlowska
