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.
The SBU detains suspected hackers suspected of running pro-Russian bot farms from Kyiv. Photo published on April 30, 2024. (SBU/Telegram)
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained two people in Kyiv suspected of creating fake accounts of Ukrainian security services as part of a Russian disinformation campaign, the SBU's press service said on April 30.
Russia is notorious for using disinformation and propaganda to undermine its rivals, and these efforts have only escalated since the outbreak of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
The two suspects were allegedly spreading false claims about the Russian full-scale war against Ukraine in order to discredit the Ukrainian defense and security forces.
The detainees created fake social media and messenger accounts of SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk and military intelligence (HUR) head Kyrylo Budanov for this purpose, the SBU said.
To add credibility, they often reposted actual posts from the SBU and military intelligence official accounts. In private messages, the suspected perpetrators extorted money from people in exchange for their "assistance," the SBU reported.
The SBU detains suspected hackers suspected of running pro-Russian bot farms from Kyiv. Photo published on April 30, 2024. (SBU/Telegram)
The SBU detains suspected hackers suspected of running pro-Russian bot farms from Kyiv. Photo published on April 30, 2024. (SBU/Telegram)
The SBU detains suspected hackers suspected of running pro-Russian bot farms from Kyiv. Photo published on April 30, 2024. (SBU/Telegram)
The suspects also allegedly created more than 1,000 fake Ukrainian accounts every day on Facebook, X, Instagram, VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki social platforms, effectively running a pro-Russian bot farm.
According to Ukraine's Security Service, the detainees received instructions from members of Russian intelligence services.
"In this way, the enemy sought to destabilize the socio-political situation in Ukraine and discredit us internationally," the SBU said.
Searches of the suspects uncovered specialized IT equipment and unregistered firearms and grenades.
Both face up to seven years in prison.
In March, the SBU busted a suspected pro-Russian disinformation group that was supposedly linked to members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
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.
Andrea Januta
