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.
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.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi (L) and General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi. (Oleksandr Syrskyi/Telegram)
Fierce battles are taking place east of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast as Russian forces are attempting to break through Ukrainian defenses, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on April 6.
Chasiv Yar lies around 10 kilometers (six miles) west of Bakhmut and 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Avdiivka, two settlements that Russia captured in May 2023 and February 2024, respectively.
Russian proxies claimed on April 5 that Moscow's troops had entered Chasiv Yar's suburb, but Ukraine's military later refuted that statement.
"Chasiv Yar remains under our control; all enemy attempts to break through to the settlement have failed," Syrskyi said on Facebook.
Russian troops have been focusing their efforts near Chasiv Yar, which they see as a crucial milestone for further advances toward Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk, the Ukrainian military said.
Syrskyi reported that the general situation on the front remains difficult as Russia "continues offensive operations day and night, using assault groups with the support of armored vehicles" in an attempt to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk Oblast.
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.
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