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.
The Kherson Oblast sign is seen on Nov. 13, 2022, after Russia's retreat from Kherson, Ukraine. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Some 45,000 residents of Kherson were left without electricity after a morning Russian attack on one of the city's power facilities, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on April 1 during a joint press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Kestusis Budrys.
The attack happened after Russia and Ukraine announced a partial ceasefire on strikes against energy facilities following technical consultations with the U.S. in Riyadh the previous week.
"After Riyadh, one of the agreements with the U.S. was about not striking at energy infrastructure," Sybiha said at the press conference.
"At the same time, Russia continues to violate this agreement," the minister said, adding that Ukraine has also recorded attacks against energy facilities in the Kherson, Kharkiv, and Poltava oblasts since March 25.
According to the local military administration, the Central and Korabelnyi districts of Kherson are without electricity. Electric transport is partially out of service due to the outages.
Throughout the full-scale war, Russia has consistently used targeted missile and drone strikes to knock out Ukraine's power grid, while Kyiv has hit oil and gas facilities inside Russian territory with long-range drones.
Ukraine and the U.S. previously agreed on a full 30-day truce during their talks in Jeddah on March 11. Russia had rejected this proposal unless it included conditions undermining Kyiv's ability to defend itself, such as a full halt on foreign military aid.
Moscow has claimed that its side of the energy ceasefire has been in effect since March 18, when Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly declared a halt on such attacks following a call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
In spite of this, Russian forces also reportedly attacked Kherson's energy infrastructure on March 27, violating the terms of the U.S.-brokered limited ceasefire.
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.
Dominic Culverwell
