The blockade ended at 10:30 p.m. local time. Truck traffic in both directions is now moving as usual, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard's statement.
Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
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.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
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.
A Ukrainian priest blesses believers and their Easter baskets at St. George's Cathedral in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 15. The traditional blessing of Easter baskets begins in the evening of the day before Easter, and continues on Easter morning. (Mykola Tys/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Orthodox Christians, which make up the majority of the country's population, are celebrating Easter on April 16, the second to occur since Russia launched its all-out war on Feb. 24, 2022.
Orthodox churches calculate Easter according to the Julian calendar, meaning it typically occurs a week after the Catholic church's Easter, which follows the Gregorian calendar.
Orthodox Christians in Ukraine prepare Easter baskets filled with colored eggs ("pysanky"), special Easter bread ("paska"), sausage, cheese, butter, salt, butter, baked ham, and other items. Each item in the food basket has its symbolic meaning. Ukrainians take the Easter baskets to the church to be blessed by a priest and then bring them home to eat with the family.
According to a July 2022 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 72% of Ukrainians identified as Orthodox. Fifty-four percent identified themselves with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, 14% were "simply Orthodox," and only 4% were with the Moscow Patriarchate church, once the most popular church in Ukraine.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, granted autocephaly (ecclesiastical independence) by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople in January 2019, is not to be confused with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Ukraine has long accused the Moscow Patriarchate's representatives in Ukraine of serving as the Kremlin's propaganda arm.
Ongoing Russian attacks against Ukraine have only accelerated the divide between Ukrainians and the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Russian forces launched missiles at residential areas in Sloviansk on the April 14 religious holiday Good Friday, killing 11 people and injuring 22 others, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on April 15. Among the dead was a two-year-old child.
Multiple cities in Ukraine have revoked the land rights of churches belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate or prohibited them from continuing to hold services. The Khmelnytskyi Сity Сouncil and the Kamianets-Podilskyi City Council revoked the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate's land rights on April 4, the former after a military officer was assaulted at their place of worship.
Members of the Moscow Patriarchate also temporarily obstructed a memorial service for a fallen soldier from entering a church in Chernivtsi Oblast on April 5, spraying the mourners with fire extinguishers when they attempted to go into the church from a side entrance.
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Anastasiia Lapatina
