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.
Smoke rises over the site of a reported attack at the Strela electromechanical plant in Russia's Bryansk Oblast, on May 4, 2025. (Astra / Telegram)
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Andrii Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
Ukraine attacked the Strela electromechanical plant in Russia's Bryansk Oblast on April 4, destroying two workshops, Russian pro-government Telegram channel Shot reported.
The attack sparked a fire covering an area of 250 square meters (about 2,690 square feet), damaging critical infrastructure of the plant, Shot wrote.
The Strela plant, located in Suzemka near the Ukrainian border, produces radar equipment, transformers, chokes, and other electronics for Russia's defense, aerospace, and electronics industries.
Andrii Kovalenko, an official at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, claimed the facility can no longer operate after an attack.
The governor of Bryansk Oblast, Alexander Bogomaz, confirmed a fire had broken out at an industrial plant in Suzemka but did not name the facility.
"There was a fire at an industrial plant, production and administrative buildings were destroyed. There are no casualties," Bogomaz wrote on his official Telegram channel.
The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that one drone was destroyed over the region but did not comment on the strike or the damage to the Strela plant.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify all the claims.
The strike on Strela comes as part of a broader wave of Ukrainian attacks targeting Russian military and industrial infrastructure.
Ukrainian drones struck the Murom Instrument-Making Plant in Russia's Vladimir Oblast on April 30, damaging two buildings and sparking a fire.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
