"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.
Emergency services responding to a fire in Kyiv in the aftermath of a Russian missile attack on April 6, 2025. (Ukraine's State Emergency Service / Telegram)
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
An overnight Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv killed one person and wounded three people, the local authorities reported on April 6.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that the body of the victim had been found on the street near the epicenter of an explosion in Kyiv's Darnytskyi District, and that the person was being identified.
Two of the wounded in the Darnytskyi District, located on the capital's southeastern edge, have been hospitalized, Klitschko said.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said that the attack affected Kyiv's Darnytskyi, Obolonsky, and Solomyansky districts.
A fire broke out at an unspecified non-residential building, and another building was severely damaged, causing three nearby parked cars to catch fire as well, according to the State Emergency Service. It added that the fire was extinguished.
Another fire broke out at a furniture shop and a warehouse building, and a five-story office building sustained "partial destruction" across several floors, the State Emergency Service added. The fire was extinguished at these sites too, according to the report.
A round of explosions occurred in Kyiv around 5:00 a.m. local time on April 6, according to a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground.
Paramedics throughout the city are responding on the scene, Klitschko reported.
Earlier, explosions were heard in Kyiv at around 2:12 a.m., a Kyiv Independent journalist reported.
Poland mobilized its jets and air defenses in response to the massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine, the Polish Armed Forces said in a post on X.
Russian attacks have been ongoing throughout the country overnight. The Air Force earlier mentioned missiles approaching Southern Ukraine at 1:43 a.m.
Russia has regularly targeted civilian infrastructure since the onset of its full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.
The U.S. has been in talks with Ukraine and Russia to negotiate an end to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Ukraine has already agreedto a U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire, saying on March 11 that Kyiv is ready if Russia also agrees to theterms. So far, Moscow has refused.
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.
Asami Terajima
