"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.
Archive photo: A view of the Bay of Sevastopol on Aug. 13, 2015 in Russian-occupied Sevastopol, Crimea. (Alexander Aksakov/Getty Images)
Possible ATACMS missiles and drones targeted Russian-occupied Crimea overnight on Aug. 2, occupation authorities claimed amid reports of explosions in various locations on the peninsula.
Residents reported hearing multiple blasts in Sevastopol, Simferopol, and Yevpatoria in the occupied peninsula, the Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported.
Ukraine has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russia-installed proxy head of Sevastopol, claimed that fragments of drones and U.S.-made missiles were found in the city after being downed by air defenses.
At least four Ukrainian air targets have been downed, he claimed.
An air raid alert sounded at around 1:30 a.m. Kyiv time. No casualties were reported at the moment.
According to Crimean Wind, fires broke out near Russian air defense positions in Balaklava, lying at Sevastopol's outskirts, at the time of the attack.
The channel also shared footage of burning debris in Sevastopol and said that smoke was rising from the 13th Ship Repair Plant of the Black Sea Fleet in Kilen Bay.
The full extent of damage is being determined.
Razvozhayev claimed that houses, high-rise buildlings, powerlines, streets, and other civilian property were damaged by fallen debris. Russia does not usually comment on possible hits against military installations.
The occupied peninsula has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone and naval strikes, forcing Russian forces to withdraw much of its naval power and beef up air defenses.
An earlier strike overnight on July 26 hit Russia's military airfield in Saky, Ukraine said, while a strike on July 23 reportedly hit a ferry used to to transport military equipment across Kerch Strait.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
