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.
Russia declared Freedom House, a U.S. nonprofit advocating for international democracy, as an "undesirable" organization, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on May 7.
Russia's "undesirable organization" law was adopted in 2015, effectively banning cooperation with about 160 organizations included on the list since then.
Russian prosecutors justified their decision by Freedom House allegedly "promoting... a 'dominant' role of the United States in the world" and supporting pro-Ukrainian policies.
The statement further read that the NGO provides "informational, financial, and legal support" to "Russian opposition structures, pro-Western and LGBT activists... and persons convicted of committing terrorist crimes."
Amnesty Internationalsaid in February that Russia increasingly uses vague anti-terrorism legislation to "silence voices of opposition and instill fear among those who dare to speak out."
The country has also adopted progressively repressive legislation and restrictions targeting the local LGBT community.
A Russian parliamentary committee said in March that the authorities would begin investigating the inclusion of Freedom House in the list of "undesirables."
Freedom House has repeatedly pointed out the deteriorating state of democracy in Russia as Vladimir Putin's regime ramps up pressure against domestic opposition, free media, and civil society.
The NGO'sFreedom in the World 2024 report assigned Russia a democracy score of 13 out of 100, classifying the country as "Not Free."
The Kyiv Independent has reached out to Freedom House for comment but has not received a response at the time of the publication.
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.
Martin Fornusek
