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.
The sanctions list includes 58 individuals and 74 companies, with 67 Russian enterprises related to military technology.
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.
Despite the Kremlin's announcement of a May 8–11 truce, heavy fighting continued in multiple regions throughout the front line.
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.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
Hungary announces exit from ICC after Netanyahu's arrival in Budapest
Hungary has announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Budapest for his first trip to Europe since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him, Hungarian state media reported on April 3.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sent an invitation to Netanyahu last November, the day after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Hungarian Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky met Netanyahu at the Budapest airport around 2:30 a.m. local time.
A few hours later, Gergely Gulyas, Orban's chief of cabinet, said the government was going to withdraw from the court in The Hague, confirming what diplomatic sources in Hungary had told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) earlier this week.
"Hungary will exit the International Criminal Court," Gulyas said. "The government will start the exit procedure on Thursday (April 3) by the constitutional and international legal framework."
The withdrawal from the ICC is expected to take up to a year, as the Hungarian parliament has yet to approve such a step.
As an ICC member, Hungary is obliged to arrest Netanyahu, but has not done so. Since the ICC has no police force, it cannot enforce its decisions and relies on other countries.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023 for the forcible transfer of children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
In September 2024, Putin visited Mongolia at the invitation of Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, which marked Putin’s first trip to an ICC member country since the court issued an arrest warrant for him.
Mongolia did not arrest Putin, citing energy dependence as a reason for not executing the warrant and implying that their hands were tied.
Dominic Culverwell
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