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.
A Finnish soldier of the Karelia Brigade, one of the three Finnish Army readiness brigades, operates the K9 artillery during the NATO Exercise Dynamic Front, on Nov. 17, 2024, near Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia is expanding its military infrastructure near the border with Finland in what experts and officials say could be a preparation for a potential clash with NATO, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 28.
These efforts include expanding military bases near the Russian city of Petrozavodsk, around 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Finland, the planned site for a new headquarters that could potentially command tens of thousands of troops, the outlet wrote.
Western military and intelligence officials are reportedly warning that these units could form the "backbone" of Russia's forces preparing to confront NATO.
Since the start of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, NATO officials have increasingly warned Moscow could launch aggression against the alliance's members in the coming years.
Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, has accused Moscow of ramping up hybrid operations against the Nordic country since it joined NATO in 2023.
Russia's military is currently heavily engaged in Ukraine, suffering massive losses in manpower and equipment. This has forced Moscow to redeploy forces from other areas over the past years, with a media investigation saying last June that most of the Russian ground units previously stationed near Finland were dispatched to Ukraine.
Christopher Cavoli, commander of U.S. forces in Europe, nevertheless warned earlier this month that Russia is rebuilding its forces much faster than previously anticipated.
"Despite extensive battlefield losses in Ukraine, the Russian military is reconstituting and growing at a faster rate than most analysts had anticipated," Cavoli told a U.S. Senate committee.
According to the general, the U.S. expects Russia to produce 250,000 artillery shells per month, which could help it build a stockpile three times larger than the U.S. and Europe combined.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said last December that Russia must be ready for a potential conflict with NATO in the next 10 years. Moscow has also issued a number of veiled and overt threats to the West over its support for Kyiv, including warnings of a possible nuclear response.
NATO countries in Russia's vicinity have intensified their preparations for a possible conflict. Poland and the Baltic countries moved to abandon a treaty banning land mines and are strengthening the borders shared with Russia and its ally Belarus while urging higher defense spending across the alliance.
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.
Chris York
