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.
According to Steve Witkoff, the key topics in the peace discussions are the fate of the five partially or fully occupied Ukrainian regions, the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine's access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.
Photo for illustrative purposes: A Russian FSB officer in assault gear in an undated photo. (Grigorenko / Getty Images)
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in Krasnodar Krai said on April 18 that it detained a Belarusian citizen accused of gathering intelligence and planning a terrorist act on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), according to an official statement.
In a video released by Russian state-run RIA Novosti, the detainee, whose identity was not disclosed and whose face was blurred in the footage, said he was born in 2000 and is a citizen of Belarus.
The detainee claimed to have been recruited online in December 2024 to collect information about Russia's Black Sea Fleet and Armed Forces' deployment in Krasnodar Krai and carry out attacks.
The FSB alleges that he retrieved a 2.5-kilogram improvised explosive device from a hiding place under orders from a handler, and was planning to bomb an administrative building in Novorossiysk.
In the video, the man recites a script in which he says the attack was orchestrated by Ukrainian security services "to disrupt negotiations between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine" and escalate the conflict.
Russian authorities opened a criminal case against him on charges of preparing to commit a terrorist act. Ukraine has not commented on the claims.
This is not the first such case reported by Russia. In December 2023, a Belarusian national was detained in Omsk and accused of blowing up two trains on the Baikal-Amur Mainline in Buryatia.
Russia's security services, particularly the FSB, have a long-documented history of extracting confessions through coercion, intimidation, and even torture.
Human rights groups and former detainees have consistently raised concerns about fabricated charges and forced statements.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
