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.
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.
Flags of the Crimean Tatar people fly on May 18, 2020, during a rally in memory of the victims of the forced deportation of Crimean Tatars which began on May 18, 1944. (Yulii Zozulia/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Nearly 5,500 residents of Russian-occupied Crimea were mobilized into the Russian army in 2024, according to the report of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, published on Dec. 4.
Russian forces have experienced record personnel losses in 2024 amid ramped-up offensive operations in Ukraine's east. The Kremlin has avoided instituting likely unpopular full-scale mobilization, seeking instead to find recruits among volunteers, migrant workers, residents of poorer regions, and occupied territories in Ukraine.
Russia has been illegally mobilizing residents of Crimea since the peninsula's occupation in 2014 in violation of the norms and customs of international humanitarian law. A total of nearly 50,000 residents of occupied Crimea have been mobilized into the Russian army through illegal conscription campaigns since 2014, according to the report.
Russian-installed authorities have been persecuting and detaining residents of the occupied peninsula due to their political views, ethnicity, or religion.
Those who refuse to serve in the Russian Armed Forces also face punishment, including criminal charges.
According to the Mission of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, Russian prosecutors have started 553 criminal proceedings under the article "evasion of military service," 244 of which were initiated after Feb. 24, 2022, when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
Crimean residents were found guilty in over 497 of these cases.
During the nearly 11 years of occupation, Russia has been in particular targeting the peninsula's indigenous Crimean Tatar population, which has been particularly vocal in resisting the occupation.
As of Nov. 26, 2024, 218 people are illegally detained in Russian prisons, including 132 Crimean Tatars. Most of them are activists, human rights defenders, and journalists who remain patriots of Ukraine, the report read.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Anastasiia Lapatina
