"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.
Military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov. (Eugen Kotenko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
The railway Russia is constructing in the occupied territories of Ukraine, which leads to Crimea, is "a serious challenge" and "an important target" for Kyiv, Andrii Yusov, a spokesperson of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR), said on March 21.
Moscow started the construction of a railroad between Russia's port city Rostov-on-Don and occupied Crimea, which would run via occupied Donetsk, Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, and Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at the rally on March 18, after the pre-determined presidential election that he won, that the construction of the railroad segment between Rostov-on-Don and Berdiansk was completed.
The railroad will likely serve as an alternative to the Crimean Bridge, which Russia currently uses as a logistics route to re-supply its forces in Crimea.
However, due to Ukraine's frequent attacks on Crimea, the bridge "is not fully operational," Yusov said.
"They are not satisfied with what is happening with the Crimean Bridge," Yusov said. "Therefore, they are trying to strengthen the railroad connection."
Yusov said that it's Ukraine's "mission" to prevent Russia from completing the construction.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
