"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 drone attack against the Samar district in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, on April 29, 2025. (State Emergency Service/Telegram)
Editor's note: The article was updated with casualty figures from Kyiv.
Russian attacks across Ukrainian regions killed at least eight civilians and injured at least 24, regional authorities reported on April 29, with children among the casualties.
Moscow's forces have intensified their strikes against Ukrainian towns and cities even as Kyiv calls for an unconditional ceasefire.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 37 of the 100 attack and decoy drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Forty-seven decoy drones disappeared from radars without causing damage, according to the statement.
A Russian drone attack against the Semenivka community in Chernihiv Oblast hit a residential building, killing a 68-year-old man, Governor Viacheslav Chaus reported.
Russian strikes in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed a child and injured five people over the past day, Governor Serhii Lysak said.
A 12-year-old girl was killed during a Russian drone attack against the Samar district, with a 6-year-old girl and two adults injured. Separately, a 59-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were injured in attacks against the Nikopol district.
Russian attacks across Donetsk Oblast killed five civilians and injured four, said the regional governor, Vadym Filashkin. This included three people killed in Novoekonomichne, and one person killed and three injured in Shakhove.
In Kharkiv Oblast, two men aged 61 and 65 were injured in Russian strikes, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. Russian forces reportedly launched 20 strike drones and 31 guided aerial bombs against the oblast.
Twelve people were injured in Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Three apartment buildings, nine houses, an agricultural enterprise, a garage, a gas pipeline, and cars were damaged.
A civilian was killed during a Russian attack against the Shostka district of Sumy Oblast, with Moscow's forces deploying almost 20 KAB bombs and 35 attack drones against the region, authorities said.
In Kyiv, a three-story recreational center was set on fire by falling debris, with one woman injured, Mayor Vitali Klistchko said.
In response to the attack, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets and two Italian Eurofighters were scrambled to carry out air surveillance in the Romanian airspace.
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.
Natalia Yermak
