Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
A woman signaling to a Ukrainian drone after Russian soldiers shot at her car in June 2023, injuring her husband, who survived the incident. (Prosecutor General's Office)
A Russian soldier who shot at Ukrainian civilians in June has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office said on Dec. 6.
According to the prosecutors, the soldier, a senior lieutenant and Moscow resident, was part of a group of Russian soldiers who fired upon a civilian car with a married couple inside as it drove near the village of Velyka Komyshuvakha, near Izium in Kharkiv Oblast.
The couple was driving to the embattled city of Bakhmut to evacuate elderly relatives, the prosecutor's office said.
The Ukrainian military was doing aerial surveillance with a drone in the area at the time of the incident and recorded the aftermath of the shooting, which showed the man lying wounded on the road. The woman then signaled to the drone and followed it to a Ukrainian military base.
The Russian soldiers who shot at the car found the man, who they assumed was dead, and dragged him to a ditch. He lay unconscious for hours and then managed to make it to the Ukrainian military on his own.
The man survived but received brain and chest injuries.
In the course of the investigation, prosecutors found an intercepted phone call from the soldier in question, who told his wife on the phone while laughing, "I killed a man today."
The court found the soldier guilty of attempted murder and other related charges and that his 15-year prison term would be determined pending his actual detention.
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.
Alexander Khrebet
