"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.
Police officers on the scene after a Russian drone attack in Kyiv Oblast. (t.me/Mykola_Kalashnyk)
Russia launched a drone attack against Kyiv Oblast on the night of March 24, injuring a man and causing damage to residential and commercial properties, acting Governor Mykola Kalashnyk reported.
A 37-year-old man in the Fastiv district sustained shrapnel wounds to the abdomen, chest, thighs, and head, Kalashnyk said. He has been hospitalized and is receiving medical attention.
“All necessary medical assistance is being provided,” Kalashnyk stated.
The attack also damaged two private houses and sparked a fire at a commercial enterprise, which firefighters have since extinguished.
No other casualties have been reported. Kalashnyk added that more detailed information will be provided later.
This comes following a mass drone attack on Kyiv the night prior, in which three people were killed and ten others were injured, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. The fatalities were the first in Kyiv in more than two months.
Russian forces have increased their drone attacks on Ukraine's capital and surrounding region in recent months, regularly launching dozens of attack drones towards Kyiv.
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.
Chris York
