"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"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.
Photo for illustrative purposes: A display of Ukraine's new 'Peklo' (Hell) missile-drones in Kyiv on Dec. 6, 2024. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
A drone strike overnight on Feb. 15 caused a fire at an industrial facility in Russia's Kaluga Oblast, regional Governor Vladislav Shapsha reported.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into an unspecified industrial site, the governor claimed.
"On the territory of an industrial enterprise in the Dzerzhinsky district, as a result of a UAV crash, a fire broke out in one of the buildings," Shapsha said.
Emergency workers were dispatched to the scene, and preliminary reports indicate there are no casualties, Shapsha said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify Shapsha's claims at the time of publication.
While Shapsha did not specify the facility that came under attack, the Dzerzhinsky district is home to Russia's Pervyy Zavod plant, the largest petrochemical enterprise in Kaluga Oblast. Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) reported a successful attack on the facility in May 2024.
Last month, the Ukrainian military struck an oil depot in the town of Lyudinovo in Kaluga Oblast, causing a fire on the premises.
A number of other regions in Russia reported drone strikes on the night of Feb. 15.
Roman Busargin, the governor of Saratov Oblast, also reported a drone threat in the region.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Feb. 15 that 40 UAVs had been shot down over Kaluga, Volgograd, Saratov, and Rostov oblasts during the night.
Russia also imposed restrictions on seven airports amid the drone attacks, Rosaviatsiya reported. Flights were temporarily restricted at the country's Astrakhan, Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Kaluga, Saratov, Volgograd, and Ulyanovsk airports.
Ukraine routinely launches deep strikes against military and industrial facilities in Russia, primarily relying on domestically developed drones. Kyiv has particlarly taken aim at Russia's fossil fuel infrastructure as part of its strategy to undermine funding for the Kremlin's war chest.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
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