"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.
A Ukrainian serviceman of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine launches a naval drone, Magura, during a demonstration for journalists on April 13, 2024, in Ukraine. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
The Magura V5 naval drone can now be equipped with an anti-aircraft platform and R-73 air-to-air guided missiles, Ukraine's military intelligence said on June 17.
The Vympel R-73, also known under the NATO reporting name AA-11 Archer, is a short-range infrared homing missile developed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, mainly for use by aircraft like MiG-29 or Su-34.
One of the Magura drones has already been equipped with these missiles, creating a serious challenge for the Russian Air Force operating in the region, the commander of the military intelligence Group 13 unit said in an interview with journalist Maksym Krapivnoy.
"These modifications are effective, the Russians are very afraid of them," the commander said.
According to the military intelligence agency, the new platform has already been used during combat operations in the Black Sea.
The Magura is a multi-purpose naval drone developed by Ukraine and has been extensively used in attacks against the Russian Black Sea fleet, mainly by ramming into enemy vessels while loaded with explosives.
Ukraine previously destroyed several Russian ships with Magura drones, including a landing ship Caesar Kunikov, a Sergei Kotov patrol ship, high-speed Serna and Akula landing crafts, and a Tarantul-class Ivanovets missile corvette.
Chris York
