"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 sign that reads “Caution: mines” is taped on a beach on May 27, 2022, in Odesa, Ukraine. (Yevhen Zinchenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Over 35,000 square kilometers (13,513 square miles) of previously mined territory have been cleared since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during a government meeting on April 4.
“More than 174,000 square kilometers of territory have been affected by the war. Therefore, the government has identified humanitarian demining as one of the key priorities for recovery,” he said.
Shmyhal noted that more than 1,000 hectares of farmland have been demined, which is crucial for the sowing season and Ukraine’s agricultural exports.
He emphasized that operations will continue and that the government will work on expanding capabilities.
“Nearly 5,500 personnel, 260 demining vehicles, and 87 mine action operators are actively working to clear mines across the country,” Shmyhal said.
Efforts to clear the Russian mines are expected to take over a decade and cost close to $35 billion, according to the Economy Ministry.
Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world.
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Sonya Bandouil
