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.
Illustrative image: An attendee looks at his laptop at the TechCrunch Disrupt London 2015 Hackathon in London, U.K., on Dec. 5, 2015. (Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on Dec. 4 that it had dismantled a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme that has enabled criminal networks, including Russian spies and oligarchs, to evade sanctions using cryptocurrency.
The criminal operations, described by investigators as a "complex scheme," spanned over 30 countries. Criminal networks laundered proceeds from illegal activities to "collect funds in one country and make the equivalent value available in another, often by swapping cryptocurrency for cash," according to the NCA.
Investigators allege that two companies, Smart Group and TGR Group, served as a financial laundering hubs to various transnational criminal organizations, including the Irish Kinahan cartel, and Russian ransomware groups.
In turn, funds were further laundered to allow Russian espionage networks and oligarchs "to illegally bypass financial restrictions to invest money in the UK," according to a statement released by the NCA. The laundered funds also allowed oligarchs to purchase property in the United Kingdom.
The criminal operation, which ran out of London, Moscow, and Dubai, primarily used the U.S. dollar-backed cryptocurrency Tether to the launder the money.
Rob Jones, NCA director-general of operations, said that the investigation, which led to 84 arrests and 20 million pounds ($25.4 million) in seized assets, was "the most significant money laundering operation" that the agency had undertaken.
On the day that the investigation, dubbed "Operation Destabilize," was revealed, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions on five individuals and four entities associated with TGR Group.
Following the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has faced severe financial sanctions from Western countries. Despite efforts effectively shut off the Russian economy from Western allies, Russia continues to avoid sanctions through the use of sanctions evasion networks and shell companies.
Russia is also aided in sanctions evasion through its allies, including China, Iran, and North Korea.
As the war drags on, the economic toll of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has become more glaring with the purchasing power of the Russian ruble hitting the lowest point since March 2022.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Oleg Sukhov
