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.
A bus damaged following a Russian attack on Marhanets, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, on April 23, 2025. (Governor Serhii Lysak/Telegram)
Editor's note: The story is being updated. The article includes graphic content.
A Russian drone attack against the town of Marhanets in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the morning of April 23 killed at least nine people and injured at least 42, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.
The drone hit a bus carrying employees of a company, Lysak said. The fatalities included two men and seven women.
Marhanets, a town with a pre-war population of 45,000, lies in the southern part of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, close to the destroyed Kakhovka Reservoir and Russian-occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Russia has intensified its attacks against Ukrainian cities and towns even as Kyiv proposed a 30-day truce on strikes against civilian infrastructure.
Moscow's forces have launched heavy strikes on April 22 against multiple cities, including Kryvyi Rih, Kherson, Odesa, and Kharkiv, inflicting dozens of civilian casualties.
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.
Abbey Fenbert
