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.
Ukraine's parliament chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk (2L) meets with Ukrainian soldiers who participated in the defense of Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, including the top commanders of the Azov Battalion, in Turkey. The photo was released on June 4, 2023. (Verkhovna Rada/Telegram)
Chairman of the Ukrainian parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk went to Turkey and met with Azovstal defenders who have been freed from Russian capture and are now under the protection of the Turkish government, the press service of Verkhovna Rada reported on June 4.
Azovstal steel plant was Ukraine's last stronghold in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, before the city became entirely occupied by Russia in May.
As part of Ukraine's prisoner exchange with Russia that freed 215 prisoners of war in September, it was decided that five top commanding officers of the Azovstal defense would live in Turkey until the end of the war.
They include Azov Regiment commander Denys Propopenko, his deputy Sviatoslav Palamar, marine commander Serhiy Volynskiy, and members of the National Guard, Oleh Homenko, and Denys Shleh.
"All our defenders are determined to continue the fight and long to return home," Stefanchuk said.
Stefanchuk, who called these men heroes, said the government is working on freeing other Ukrainian warfighters who have been captured by Russia.
"We have to return everyone. Because we value everyone."
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Olga Rudenko
