"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.
Romanian then prime minister Victor Ponta speaks during an interview at the Victoria Palace in Bucharest, Romania, on June 11, 2015. (Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
If elected president, former Prime Minister Victor Ponta told Reuters he will ban the export of Ukrainian grain through the country's Black Sea ports to protect local farmers.
Bucharest plays a crucial role in Ukrainian exports amid Russia's threats to the Black Sea maritime trade, shipping around 29 million tones of Ukraine's produce.
"There has been a policy of favoring Ukrainian grain in terms of access to port facilities in recent years, at the detriment of Romanian grain, and Romanian farmers were greatly affected by it," Ponta said.
In 2024, Romanian farmers asked the government to advocate for import limits on Ukrainian agriculture products, protesting the economic impacts of a free trade agreement that have sparked worries about uneven competition and risks to domestic production.
Yet, the presidential candidate said that he would support other measures already in place to support Ukraine, including weapons transit and training for Ukrainian pilots.
He said that Romania can defend neighboring Moldova in case of a Russian attack but could not do so for Ukraine or any other country.
In light of President Donald Trump's U-turn in foreign policy, Ponta said that he backs "radical change" taking place in the U.S.
The re-run of Romania's presidential elections is set for May 8 after the scheduled vote in November was annulled due to allegations of Russian interference favoring far-right candidate Calin Georgescu.
He was barred from participating in the presidential election re-run.
Victor Ponta, 52, served as a Romanian prime minister between 2012-2015, representing the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He resigned after public outrage over a deadly nightclub fire.
An opinion poll conducted by polling institute Verifield showed that Ponta has a chance to enter the run-off facing far-right candidate George Simion.
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.
Oleg Sukhov
