"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.
Illustrative photo of President Volodymyr Zelensky signing a document in his office in Kyiv. (Volodymyr Zelensky / Telegram)
Ruslan Kravchenko, the governor of Kyiv Oblast, and Filip Pronin, the governor of Poltava Oblast, were dismissed on Dec. 30 and are expected to be appointed to new positions soon.
According to a Telegram post from lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, the two are slated to be appointed heads of the Tax and Financial Supervision Commissions, respectively.
The move comes shortly after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his team is "preparing several important personnel decisions" that will be "announced soon."
Kravchenko served as governor of Kyiv Oblast since April 2023. Prior to his appointment as governor, he was the chief prosecutor of Kyiv Oblast's Bucha District
Pronin has been governor of Poltava Oblast since October 2023. He previously held anti-corruption roles at various government agencies.
Their dismissals were approved by the government a few days ago before the official decrees were signed.
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The Kyiv Independent news desk
