Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes: The Russian Su-34 bomber aircraft and FAB-500 bombs equipped with high-precision guidance, March 18, 2024. (Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Editor's note: The article was updated with a comment by Air Force spokesperson Illia Yevlash.
The Russian military has allegedly attacked Kharkiv Oblast with a FAB-3000 high-explosive aerial bomb, Russian sources claimed on June 20.
A video shared by a pro-Kremlin blogger purports to show Russian bombers striking a Ukrainian military target in the village of Liptsy in Kharkiv Oblast.
The blogger, who reportedly has ties to the Russian Air Force, claims the footage records the first combat use of a FAB-3000 M-54 bomb with a universal planning and correction module (UMPK).
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims at the time of publication.
Kharkiv Oblast police reported that Russian forces attacked the Kupiansk district on May 5 with a FAB-1500 air-dropped bomb, the first time a 1,500-kilogram bomb had been used since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The strike killed an 88-year-old woman and injured a 34-year-old man.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in March that it had begun mass production of FAB-3000 aerial bombs.
The June 20 video claims to show a FAB-3000 bomb striking the end of a building used by the Ukrainian army as a temporary deployment point (TDP). The post accompanying the video explains that the bomb did not succeed in making a direct hit on the target but still caused massive damage.
Ukraine cannot confirm that Russia used the bomb, Air Force spokesperson Illia Yevlash said in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Dinara Khalilova
