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.
U.S. and European officials held talks on May 12, during which Washington made it clear that it wanted to allow talks between Russia and Ukraine before increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin, sources told Bloomberg.
According to Steve Witkoff, the key topics in the peace discussions are the fate of the five partially or fully occupied Ukrainian regions, the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine's access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is reportedly offering a deal that would give U.S. companies access to Syria's natural wealth, reminiscent of the minerals agreement Washington recently signed with Kyiv.
Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and guided bombs during the night, targeting multiple regions after the May 12 deadline for an unconditional ceasefire expired.
"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
Grigory Karasin, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, attends a press briefing by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at UN Headquarters. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Russian negotiator Grigory Karasin cast doubt on the Trump administration's efforts to broker a quick ceasefire in Ukraine, saying on March 28 that the talks with the U.S. may not yield decisive results this year.
Karasin led the Russian delegation that held the 12-hour-long technical consultations with the U.S. in Riyadh on March 24. These talks led to an agreement on a partial ceasefire covering strikes against energy infrastructure and Black Sea operations.
The Russian official described the meeting with the U.S. delegation as "constructive" but acknowledged limited results, suggesting that the consultations will continue. When asked about the timeline for clear results in the negotiations, he said they might not come "this year or at the end of this year."
"It would be naive to expect any breakthrough results at the very first meeting," Karasin, chairman of Russia's Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, said in an interview with the state-owned TV channel Rossiya-24.
Kyiv has already accused Russia of violating the energy ceasefire, while the future of the Black Sea ceasefire is in doubt as Moscow has linked it to the lifting of Western sanctions on Russian food producers and some financial institutions.
Moscow previously rejected a full 30-day truce agreed upon by the U.S. and Ukraine in Jeddah on March 11 unless it included conditions undermining Ukraine's ability to defend itself, including a full halt on foreign military aid.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly declared he would broker a swift deal to end Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, which has been ongoing for more than three years. His administration briefly halted all military assistance to Ukraine to push it to the negotiating table while exerting little pressure on Russia.
Trump acknowledged on March 25 that Russia may be "dragging their feet" in peace talks, while Kyiv and other observers warn that Moscow intentionally prolongs the process to allow Russian forces to capture more territory.
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.
Martin Fornusek
