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.
Servicemen of the First Presidential National Guard Brigade of Ukraine BUREVIY (Storm) during a practical exercise at a training ground in northern Ukraine, November 3, 2023. Illustrative purpsoses only. (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Western training for Ukrainian troops began to adjust after criticism that it does not reflect the real situation on Ukraine's battlefield, Politico reported on Nov. 13, citing examples from a French training ground.
The main change is a greater emphasis on aerial threat awareness, as Kyiv's forces lack the air superiority dictated by the NATO doctrine, Politico said.
The French military said that adapting the syllabus did not require extensive changes as the program has always been flexible.
Now, drones more often fly above Ukrainian soldiers to get them used to air surveillance, and trainers use artillery and grenades to simulate air strikes.
Given the extensive real-life combat experience of Ukrainian troops, the teaching sometimes goes the other way, Politico noted.
"The program is not set in stone, we have integrated those criticisms in the training preparation, which is greenlit by the Ukrainians," said a French training officer.
The exercises also reportedly include trench warfare and preparations for harsh battlefield conditions.
In the past, Ukrainian soldiers raised concerns that Western training focuses too much on urban engagements in reflection of NATO's counter-insurgency operations in the Middle East, vastly different from the reality of the trench warfare in Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have received training in NATO countries in order to prepare them to face Russian troops. Several Western-trained and equipped brigades were deployed in the counteroffensive, which appears to be winding down after only limited territorial gains.
While acknowledging the benefits of the Western training, Ukrainian soldiers raised several points of criticism over the summer.
This concerned mainly the lack of Western militaries' experience in facing an enemy like Russia or the relatively limited scope of the training with little space given to topics like de-mining, the media reported in August.
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.
Asami Terajima
