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.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
The Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral stands on Toompea hill in the historic city center on March 24, 2017, in Tallinn, Estonia. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
The Estonian parliament passed a law on April 9 that will require religious organizations to cut ties with foreign institutions that incite violence or hatred, mandating the Estonian Orthodox Church to sever its connection with the Moscow Patriarchate.
The legislation aims to prevent foreign influence in Estonia's religious sphere if it threatens national security, constitutional order, or public order or if it promotes military aggression or incites war, according to the parliament's press service.
The Estonian Orthodox Church, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, also known as the Moscow Patriarchate, will be directly impacted.
According to Estonian public broadcaster ERR, the church will be compelled to cut ties with Moscow when the law, which still requires presidential approval, takes effect.
The Moscow Patriarchate has openly supported Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Patriarch Kirill, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly endorsed the war, describing Putin's rule as a "gift from God" and blessing Russian military operations.
Kirill's stance has deepened divisions within the global Orthodox community and led to legal action in Ukraine, where authorities placed him on a wanted list in December 2023 for violating the country's territorial integrity.
Estonian officials have previously accused the local Orthodox Church's leadership of sympathizing with Russian aggression.
Estonia's parliament had already designated the Russian Orthodox Church as an "institution sponsoring the military aggression of the Russian Federation" in a resolution passed on May 6, 2024.
Estonia, a vocal supporter of Ukraine and a NATO frontline state, has taken a firm stance against Russian influence since the start of the invasion.
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.
Chris York
