"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.
President Antonio Costa speaks following a special EU summit on March 6, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium. (Olena Zashko / The Kyiv Independent)
Several EU members have pledged to provide up to 15 billion euros ($16.3 billion) in additional aid for Ukraine, European Council President Antonio Costa said at a summit on March 6.
EU leadersmet in Brussels to discuss plans for boosting Europe's defense capabilities and support for Ukraine amid the seismic foreign policy shifts in the U.S. Ukraine's President Volodmyr Zelensky also took part in the meeting.
The summit concluded without additional EU aid packages for Ukraine as the discussed 20-billion-euro tranche ($22 billion) was dropped from the final declaration. Kyiv needs more support now than ever, as the Trump administration has frozen all military assistance flowing to the country.
As any EU-wide assistance package is under threat of being blocked by Hungary's Moscow-friendly leader, Viktor Orban, top EU officials suggested that further aid should be provided through a "coalition of the willing."
"Immediately, member states can increase their support thanks to the increased fiscal space," Costa said at a press conference in Brussels. During the summit, EU leaders unanimously agreed on a new defense initiative that could mobilize up to 800 billion euros ($867 billion) through loans and loosening fiscal rules for government spending.
"Several member states have already announced their pledges up to 15 billion euros. Today, we have also tasked the Council to work urgently on further initiatives to address Ukraine’s pressing military and defense needs," Costa said, without naming the countries.
"This is a tipping point for Europe. And today, we have shown that the European Union is rising to the challenge," the European Council president said.
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.
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