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.
Emergency services at work in the Russian city of Belgorod after an attack on Dec. 30, 2023. (Emil Leegunov/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russia has begun moving residents out of Belgorod in the aftermath of the Dec. 30 attack on the city, Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed on Jan. 5.
A Dec. 30 strike on Belgorod, which lies about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, reportedly killed 25 people and injured over 100. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the strike, which came one day after Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Kyiv.
Gladkov said Belgorod residents were posting pleas for relocation assistance on social media.
"I see several appeals on social media where people write, 'We are scared, help us get to a safe place.' Of course we will! We have already moved several families," Gladkov claimed.
Gladkov said residents seeking relocation would be transported to the towns of Stary Oskol and Gubkin, where they could remain as long as they wished "in warm and safe rooms."
He also said that accommodation centers within Belgorod Oblast would not have the capacity to hold all residents seeking relocation, and that he would contact governors in other oblasts for assistance.
Russia launched an unprecedented number of drones and missiles at Ukraine's major cities in a series of attacks between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2. The attacks killed 39 people and left over 160 more injured.
Several Ukrainian media outlets reportedthat Ukrainian forces struck military facilities in Belgorod on Dec. 30 in response to the attacks. The reports cited anonymous sources in Ukraine's special services, who said that debris from anti-air munitions fell in the Belgorod city center "due to the unprofessional actions of the Russian air defense."
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify these claims, nor Russian officials' claims of the extent of the damage and casualties in Belgorod.
A representative of the French Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 3 that Russia "bears full responsibility" for the casualties of the Belgorod strike.
"Russia can put an end to this conflict and the human tragedies that accompany it, for which it bears full responsibility," the official said.
During an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council held Dec. 31, U.S. official John Kelley said that "ordinary Russian civilians are also bearing the brunt of the Kremlin’s brutal war."
Alexander Query
