"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.
Refugees from Ukraine are seen walking on the platform upon their arrival by train from Odesa at the railway station in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, on April 6, 2022. (Wojtek Radwanski /AFP via Getty Images)
EU leaders are discussing how to handle a potential renewed wave of refugees from Ukraine in the face of uncertainty in U.S. policy and Russia's ongoing offensives, Politico reported on March 5.
Following a heated argument between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Feb. 28 the White House suspended U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly failed to condemn Russia, stirring panic in Europe.
Czechia, Germany, and Poland host the most Ukrainian refugees. EU officials are now debating if there should be a more equal distribution among EU member states in the event of a new wave of refugees, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on March 5.
"If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin escalates this war even further and the American support should disappear, and if this should lead to a larger refugee movement ... we need a binding distribution of the Ukraine refugees throughout the EU, according to a fair mechanism," Faeser said.
European officials do not necessarily expect another large influx of refugees from Ukraine. Regardless, geopolitical uncertainty has prompted dialogue among European authorities on how to respond to a potential influx, Faeser told reporters.
Germany will stand with Kyiv "(a)s long as Putin's terrible attack against Ukraine continues," she said.
Around 5.2 million Ukrainian refugees remain abroad and about 4.2 million reside in the EU. The share of Ukrainian refugees who want to return home dropped from 74% in December 2022 to 43% by the end of 2024.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
