"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.
Three F-16 fighting jets of the Romanian Air Force fly over a Romanian flag during a military parade marking the National Day of Romania in Bucharest on Dec. 1, 2023. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)
Romania could shoot down aircraft illegally violating its airspace based on the level of threat, according to a draft law published by the Romanian Defense Ministry on Oct. 28.
Bucharest reported numerous cases of Russian drones crashing on its territory or violating its airspace near the Ukrainian border following mass strikes on Ukraine.
According to the proposed legislation, the Romanian military would be able to intercept and, when necessary, destroy piloted and unmanned aircraft breaching its airspace under certain circumstances.
The document must be approved by the Romanian government and the parliament.
Depending on the level of threat, "unauthorized" drones may be disabled or taken control of with "non-kinetic" means or shot down.
The interception of a piloted aircraft would follow several steps, including establishing radio contact, transmitting instructions to the pilot, and firing a warning shot. The use of "destructive force" by aircraft or ground-based air defenses would be the last resort.
The Romanian military would attempt to shoot down the aircraft only after establishing all the circumstances and the level of threat and taking into account international law and the safety of people's lives and property, the document says.
Allied forces stationed in Romania would be permitted to take part in the operations.
Romania has urged NATO partners to present a "robust and coordinated" response to Russian missiles and drones violating the allied airspace. Latvia and Poland also reported similar breaches.
Ukraine has urged NATO to intercept Russian drones and missiles over Ukrainian airspace both to protect Ukraine and their own countries. No country has committed to that step so far nor intercepted Russian projectiles in its airspace.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Kateryna Denisova
