"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.
The aftermath of a Russian attack against Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on April 27, 2025. (Governor Vadym Filashkin)
Russian attacks across Ukrainian regions over the past day killed at least six civilians and injured at least 13, regional authorities reported on April 28.
Moscow's forces have intensified their strikes against Ukrainian towns and cities even as Kyiv calls for an unconditional ceasefire.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a 73-year-old woman was injured during Russian drone and artillery attacks against the Nikopol district, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.
Russian attacks across Donetsk Oblast killed five people and injured six, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. This included three people killed and five injured in an air strike against Kostiantynivka, which damaged 21 houses.
In Kharkiv Oblast, a Russian drone attack against the town of Kupiansk injured a local doctor, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Russian attacks across Kherson Oblast injured five civilians, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Four high-rise buildings and 17 houses were damaged.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Olena Goncharova
