"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.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (L) attends a meeting with Vladimir Putin (L) in Moscow, Russia, on Jun. 28, 2023. (Kadyrov's Telegram channel)
More than 150 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) may be held in Chechnya, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Feb. 14.
Ukraine has documented over 100 cases of Russia summarily executing Ukrainian POWs since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets clarified that the actual number is likely much higher since it is difficult to document Russian war crimes without supporting evidence, such as videos of the executions.
Some 36 Ukrainian POWs are being sought and may be in the city of Grozny, Chechnya, according to the headquarters.
The Red Cross International Committee has not confirmed that there are any Ukrainians in captivity in Chechnya. The headquarters are also not aware of any visits by the humanitarian organization to Ukrainian POWs in Chechnya, as reported by RFE/RL.
Ukrainian soldiers are captured in different sectors of the frontline, and then they are transferred to Chechnya, the headquarters said.
"As in other places of detention on the territory of the aggressor state and the Ukrainian occupied territories, the norms of humanitarian law and the requirements of the Third Geneva Convention related to the treatment of POWs are not observed," the organization said.
"(Chechen dictator Ramzan) Kadyrov's regime uses prisoners as human shields for military facilities, as well as a lever to lift sanctions against members of the Kadyrov family."
Ukraine has not received any requests from Chechnya for the exchange of POWs, the headquarters added.
In 2024, 1,358 Ukrainians were released, and since the beginning of the all-out war, 3,956 Ukrainians have returned from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his New Year's address.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Oleg Sukhov
