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.
Russian journalist Sergei Mikhailov, who was sentenced to 8 years in prison in Gorno-Altaysk, Russia, on Aug. 30, 2024. (SOTA/Telegram)
Sergei Mikhailov, the publisher of the independent newspaper Listok in Russia's Altai Republic, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Aug. 30 for "spreading fakes" about the Russian Army.
The charges relate to stories that Listok published about the Bucha massacre, where Russian soldiers murdered hundreds of Ukrainian civilians, as well as other Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Mikhailov was first detained in April 2022, shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion. His trial began in June 2023.
In a final statement before his sentencing, Mikhailov said, "I categorically disagree with the accusation. All these years I have been writing what I consider to be the truth, even if this truth is bitter."
"The purpose of our publications is to reveal the truth to my fellow countrymen, to protect them from the lies of state propaganda. The fog of lies is becoming thicker, and I do not want our readers to be tempted by these lies and to voluntarily become participants in military actions, to become murderers."
Beyond the prison sentence, the court asked that Mikhailov be banned from working in journalism for four years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's crackdown on dissent since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has seen thousands of his citizens arrested and many jailed.
In 2023, at least 21,000 people were targeted by Russia's "repressive laws" used to "crack down" on anti-war activists," according to Amnesty International.
Nate Ostiller
