"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.
Blackout in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on April 21, 2024. At night, Kharkiv street lighting is absent as the Russian forces severely damaged the Kharkiv power infrastructure in March 2024. (Serhii Korovayny/The Kyiv Independent)
A U.S. neo-Nazi terrorist group with links to Russia is offering locals payment to carry out attacks, the Guardian reported on April 5.
Russia actively tries to recruit civilians in Ukraine to spy on military targets and carry out terrorist attacks throughout the country. On April 3, at least one person was killed in a Kyiv explosion.
The Base is a neo-Nazi terrorist group established in 2018. The group's leader, Rinaldo Nazzaro, is a U.S. citizen who now lives in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Nazzaro is a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Pentagon employee.
Locals are being asked to conduct attacks on "electric power stations, military and police vehicles, military and police personnel, government buildings, (and) politicians” in various cities, including Kyiv.
"Given Russia’s connections to the leadership of the Base, including offering sanctuary to its leader Rinaldo Nazzaro, there is a strong chance that this could very well be a Russian intelligence operation," geopolitics expert Colin Clarke told the Guardian.
The terrorist group was extensively investigated by the FBI since its founding in 2018. Under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the FBI has cut back on investigations into far-right groups.
Previously, the Base did not align itself with Russia. The change likely means the terrorist group is carrying out sabotage across Europe, experts told the Guardian.
"Supporting and directing violent non-state actors, including racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists, is just another tool in the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare toolkit, and one which Moscow has repeatedly demonstrated that it’s willing to use," Clarke said.
The Base is designated as a terrorist group in various jurisdictions, including Canada, the EU, and the U.K.
On April 4, Yuriy Fedko, an official in Dnipro, was killed in a car explosion. Police say several possible scenarios are being investigated, including an attack ordered by Russia to destabilize the situation in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.
Martin Fornusek
