Last news • War in Ukraine
15 thousand {dollars} – and overseas by way of the forest: in a number of areas, 10 organizers of unlawful departure of these chargeable for army service had been detained
In western Ukraine, the SBU detained 10 folks concerned in organizing 5 schemes for unlawful border crossing for these chargeable for army service. The price of companies reached 15 thousand {dollars}.
Talks on the European Political Neighborhood summit in Tirana will heart on considerably tightening sanctions towards Moscow, Politico reported on Could 16, citing 4 unnamed European officers.
Earlier within the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived for the summit in Albania after a go to to Turkey the place Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul on Could 16 for his or her first direct talks since 2022.
Kyiv expects to debate an unconditional ceasefire and a possible assembly between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire again in March, whereas Moscow has to this point ignored the proposal.
In the meantime, U.Okay. Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned in Albania that Putin can’t be trusted, the Kyiv Unbiased journalist reported.
Talking concerning the seventeenth bundle of sanctions, EU's prime diplomat Kaja Kallas mentioned that political isolation is a vital consider placing strain on Russia.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned the following set of EU sanctions will goal Nord Stream, extra "shadow fleet" listings, a decrease oil value cap, and new measures focusing on Russian and third-country banks aiding the battle effort, in keeping with the Kyiv Unbiased reporter.
Beforehand, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of the U.Okay., France, Germany, and Poland have pledged to impose further sanctions towards Russia if the Kremlin doesn’t settle for their proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek
Cease the killings and obtain peace: Kellogg talks about assembly with the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul
Trump's particular consultant Keith Kellogg met in Istanbul with representatives of Ukraine, Nice Britain, France and Greece to debate peace. A potential assembly between Zelenskyy and Putin was additionally mentioned on the assembly.
Editor's be aware: The story was up to date with an announcement by the Air Power.
Russian assaults throughout Ukrainian areas killed at the least three civilians and injured 15 over the previous day, regional authorities reported on Could 16.
The assaults occurred as Russian and Ukrainian delegates are set to fulfill in Istanbul in what could be the primary direct negotiations between the 2 events since 2022.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 73 of the 112 assault and decoy drones launched by Russia in a single day, the Air Power reported. Thirty-six decoy drones disappeared from radars with out inflicting harm, in keeping with the assertion.
In Donetsk Oblast, Russian assaults killed one particular person in Oleksandro-Kalynove and injured six elsewhere within the area, Governor Vadym Filashkin stated.
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces attacked 4 settlements over the previous day, injuring an 88-year-old girl within the village of Malyi Burluk, Governor Oleh Syniehubov stated.
Later within the morning, Syniehubov reported {that a} 55-year-old girl was killed and 4 males had been injured throughout a drone assault on Kupiansk at round 8 a.m.
One civilian was killed and one other injured throughout Russian assaults in opposition to Kherson Oblast, stated the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Three high-rise buildings and 7 homes had been broken.
A drone assault in opposition to Odesa and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in Odesa Oblast injured three individuals, certainly one of whom is in a crucial situation, Governor Oleh Kiper reported. A number of fires broke out however had been promptly extinguished, and residential buildings and automobiles had been broken, Kiper stated.
Russian drones attacked Kyiv in a single day, with explosions and air protection fireplace reported by metropolis officers. Fallen particles broken a boiler room, home windows, and automobiles within the Sviatoshynskyi district, however no casualties had been reported as of the time of publication.
Ukraine and its companions have repeatedly urged Moscow to undertake an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as step one towards peace, a transfer that Russia continues to reject.
The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk
The Russian delegation departed for negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul with a delay – Russian media
The Russian delegation departed for negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul with a delay. This was reported by Russian media, citing their very own sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Albania on Could 16 to attend a summit of the European Political Neighborhood, presidential spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov mentioned, based on the state information channel Freedom TV.
The sixth assembly of the European Political Neighborhood will give attention to Europe's safety, together with Russia's ongoing full-scale battle towards Ukraine, amongst different matters.
The summit comes as Ukrainian and Russian delegations are anticipated to carry talks in Istanbul for the primary time since 2022. Turkish and U.S. officers can even reportedly be part of the sequence of discussions.
Zelensky's go to follows his journey to Turkey, the place he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Though a face-to-face assembly between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin was anticipated in Istanbul, Putin as an alternative despatched a delegation led by his aide, Vladimir Medinsky.
Kyiv and its companions have urged Moscow to undertake an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as step one towards a broader peace deal, a transfer that Russia continues to reject.
The Kyiv IndependentAlex Cadier
The US might be represented by a prime official from the State Division on the Istanbul talks – Reuters
Representatives of america, Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine will maintain negotiations in Istanbul on Might 16. These are the primary peace talks in additional than three years.
Russia has misplaced 971,690 troops in Ukraine for the reason that starting of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the Common Workers of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Might 16.
The quantity consists of 1,100 casualties Russian forces suffered simply over the previous day.
In response to the report, Russia has additionally misplaced 10,825 tanks, 22,546 armored preventing autos, 48,713 autos and gas tanks, 27,908 artillery programs, 1,385 a number of launch rocket programs, 1,167 air protection programs, 372 airplanes, 336 helicopters, 36,123 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.
The Kyiv IndependentAlex Cadier
Enemy losses: minus 1100 Russians and dozens of items of kit per day
Ukrainian defenders eradicated 1100 Russian troopers, 36 artillery techniques and 32 fight armored autos. Since 02.24.22, the enemy has misplaced 971690 individuals.
TURKEY — Istanbul — it’s the place Asia meets Europe, however as we now know, not the place Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The world's media descended on the Turkish metropolis on Could 15, primed for one thing doubtlessly historic — the primary direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow in three years, amid a global push to achieve a full, 30-day ceasefire.
As a substitute, reporters and correspondents had been left hanging round within the springtime solar, with little to report aside from a slanging match between the 2 nation's international ministries.
"This can be a negotiating farce," Hanna Hopko, co-founder of the Worldwide Heart for Ukrainian Victory, instructed the Kyiv Unbiased. "It's already clear that Putin is simply mocking (U.S President Donald) Trump."
The talks in Istanbul had been Russia's concept, proposed by Putin on Could 11 in yet one more try and distract from the truth that after precisely two months, the Kremlin continues to be refusing to conform to the total, 30-day ceasefire that Trump initially referred to as for.
The Ukrainian place was clear from the start — Zelensky instantly stated he was going to Istanbul and anticipated to see Putin there, a transfer which appeared to catch the Kremlin off-guard and stun it right into a days-long silence because it contemplated its subsequent transfer.
Upping the stress additional, Trump on Could 12 stated he believed that "each leaders" shall be there, thrusting Putin into a fragile diplomatic dilemma — learn how to keep away from caving into Zelensky's proposal with out upsetting Trump.
The 'sham delegation'After days of consideration, Putin determined the best choice was to only not present up and never give an evidence, the information coming late within the night of Could 14 within the type of a listing of names of those that can be representing Russia in Istanbul.
In addition to omitting Putin's title, the listing additionally lacked these of any Russian ministers or high-ranking officers, setting the tone for the next day and giving a transparent indication of how critically the Kremlin was taking the very talks it proposed itself.
"Putin was not prepared for any honest peace talks," Mykola Kniazhytskyi, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the European Solidarity occasion, instructed the Kyiv Unbiased. "Russia's technique is to proceed the battle so long as doable."
Zelensky decried the Russian representatives as a "sham delegation," highlighting that the Ukrainian delegation was of the "highest stage," together with Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha.
The Kremlin was not happy.
"Who makes use of the phrase 'sham'? A clown, a loser, an individual with no training in any respect," Russian Overseas Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova seethed throughout a press briefing.
Ukraine hit again, with Overseas Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi saying it was "not the primary time the Russian Overseas Ministry turned a laughing inventory."
"It is usually price noting that the delegation in Turkey just isn’t led by the Russian Overseas Ministry — their function is to bark from Moscow," he added.
As a substitute of Putin coming to fulfill with President @ZelenskyyUa in Türkiye and have a critical dialog about ending the battle and restoring peace, what we hear from Russia are private insults of the Ukrainian President.
Not the primary time the Russian international ministry turns into a…— Heorhii Tykhyi (@SpoxUkraineMFA) Could 15, 2025
The Trump responseRegardless of the rhetoric and the evident absence of Putin in Istanbul, Trump appeared to let the Russian president off the hook for not attending.
"I didn’t suppose it was doable for Putin to go if I’m not there," he stated throughout a go to to the United Arab Emirates on Could 15, later telling reporters: "Nothing's going to occur till Putin and I get collectively."
"Trump is already appearing as Putin's lawyer. It's humiliating, it's a disgrace."
For the journalists in Istanbul, a lot of whom had been in Antalya for the NATO international ministers assembly after which diverted for the talks, it was simply concerning the largest information of the day.
In Kyiv, it sparked large frustration.
“America is dropping its credibility," Hopko, stated, including: "Trump is already appearing as Putin's lawyer. It's humiliating, it's a disgrace."
"The worst a part of all that is that when Russia is weak, when its financial system is cracking, as an alternative of pushing tougher, (the West is holding again)," she added.
"Putin will conform to talks and are available to the negotiation desk solely when he’s cornered — when he understands that the West has a united entrance with critical plans."
Kniazhytskyi stated Putin was merely attempting — and succeeding — to maintain Trump onside, hoping "the alternatives to earn a living along with Putin shall be extra vital to him" in the long term.
Others had been much more blunt. "It's a large number," Oleksandr Merezhko, a Ukrainian lawmaker and chair of the parliament's international affairs committee, instructed the Kyiv Unbiased.
Exterior of Kyiv, seasoned Ukraine-watchers questioned simply how viable Putin's technique is in the long run.
"What’s fascinating right here," Ambassador Kurt Volker, a former U.S. particular consultant for Ukraine, instructed the Kyiv Unbiased, "is that the highlight retains getting brighter on Putin."
"The U.S., Europe, Ukraine all name for ceasefire, Putin then says negotiate. The U.S. and Ukraine say OK, let’s negotiate, after which Putin is a no-show. I don’t understand how for much longer this may go on."
The 'lureHopko, Kniazhytsky, and Merezhko all warned of what the latter described as a "lure" being laid by the Kremlin each on Could 15, and within the days main as much as it — the setting of a benchmark for negotiations based mostly on these it set on the final talks held within the early months of the full-scale battle in 2022, which amounted to Ukraine's full capitulation.
"Putin wished to show this right into a continuation of (the 2022 talks) and that's why he despatched (his aide Vladimir) Medinsky, who was at (the 2022 talks), to place ahead all the identical calls for," Kniazhytsky stated.
Leaked copies of Russia's calls for right now present that in 2022 Moscow was demanding Ukraine scale back its military to 50,000 folks, 5 occasions lower than the nation had earlier than the all-out battle, in addition to scale back the variety of ships, helicopters, and tanks.
Russia additionally deliberate to ban Ukraine from growing "every other forms of weapons on account of scientific analysis, and to not produce, purchase or deploy in Ukraine missile weapons "of any kind with a spread of greater than 250 km."
In addition to leaving Ukraine defenseless, Russia now insists that, as a situation for peace negotiations, Ukrainian troops should go away the nation's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts – all 4 of which Russia partially occupies – acknowledge Russia's annexation of Crimea, and abandon any ambition to hitch NATO.
The second day of talksOn the night of Could 15, journalists in Istanbul came upon they'd seemingly have to attend not less than one other day for something concrete to come back from the talks which, on the time of writing, had but to even start.
After a diplomatic stand–off of kinds, Zelensky has now despatched a Ukrainian delegation led by Protection Minister Rustem Umerov to Istanbul from Ankara to display Ukraine’s dedication to peace. Zelensky stated the delegation’s high precedence can be reaching a ceasefire settlement.
Russia's low-level delegation awaits them. What these talks will result in is anybody’s guess — skeptics will say they’re in all probability only for present. Nonetheless, they’re historic, at any stage.
Russia has stated their delegation is in a constructive temper, although what that truly means stays unclear.
However based mostly on what we now have seen thus far, Zelensky is taking a step towards peace, whereas Putin refuses to step out of Moscow.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova