"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will arrive in Kyiv early on May 10.
The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days, despite Putin's self-declared Victory Day "truce."
The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Polish and Ukrainian flags in Warsaw. March 26, 2022. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Half of Poles believe Ukraine should not join NATO or the European Union until the issue of exhuming Volyn massacre victims is resolved, according to a new poll published on Jan. 30.
The poll conducted by the Institute for Social Research and Market (IBRiS) found that 27.7% of respondents "strongly" oppose Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU without addressing this issue, while 22.5% "rather" oppose.
The Volyn massacre occurred during World War II. Tens of thousands of Poles were murdered by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (known by its Ukrainian acronym UPA) in the Nazi-occupied region of Volhynia, which was then a part of Poland and is nowadays a region in western Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainians were killed by Polish military formations in retaliation.
Polish opposition supporters, particularly viewers of the Polish right-wing Republic TV, which backs the Law and Justice (PiS) party, are the primary group insisting on the condition of exhuming Volyn massacre victims, polish media outlet Rzeczpospolita noted.
The poll also shows that 20.4% "rather" support Ukraine's accession and 14.4% "strongly" support it. The remaining 15% were undecided.
The survey was conducted on Jan. 24-25 using computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) with 1,071 respondents.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland has been one of Ukraine’s most prominent allies and supporters. But disagreements in the approach to the historic events have thrown a shadow on relations between the states.
Ukraine and Poland reached a breakthrough regarding the issue in January. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Jan. 10. that the first exhumations of Volyn massacre victims were approved by both sides earlier in the month.
The issue of Volyn exhumations has become a political fault line ahead of Poland's presidential election, scheduled for May. Karol Nawrocki, the PiS-backed presidential candidate, said on Jan. 8 that Ukraine should not join the EU or NATO unless it "answers" for the Polish victims of the massacre.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the ruling coalition's presidential candidate, supports Ukraine's EU and NATO membership.
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.
Daria Svitlyk
