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.
Houses flooded in Dalnerechensk, Russia, after a local dam burst on Aug. 6, 2024. (Screenshot from a video published by the Civil Defense and Emergencies Service in Primorsky Krai)
A dam burst in the town of Dalnerechensk in the far east of Russia overnight on Aug. 6, regional authorities told state-owned TASS news agency. This marks the fourth such case in Russia in two weeks.
On July 26, a dam broke at the Kialimskoye water reservoir in the Karabash urban district of Russia's Chelyabinsk region.
In the Segezha district of Karelia, a dam on the White Sea-Baltic Canal burst on July 29, killing one person. The Khonkholoy dam in Buryatia broke due to floods on Aug. 4, causing water to wash away several bridges.
In April 2024, the Russian city of Orengurg was flooded after several rivers, including the Ural, burst from their banks, and the Orsk Dam collapsed. The water levels in the city rose 2 meters above the critical level, flooding 11,700 homes, according to the local authorities.
Daria is a newsroom intern at the Kyiv Independent. She is a Media and Communication BSc student at the University of Surrey, U.K. She also studied Journalism and Social Communications at Kyiv's National University of Taras Shevchenko. Daria previously worked as a freelance copywriter and volunteered at a local town newspaper in Guildford, U.K.
Dominic Culverwell
