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.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
This photograph shows a view of the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia on May 18, 2023. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia is stepping up its hybrid attacks aimed at the Netherlands and its European allies, the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD said on April 22.
The news follows multiple reports of damaged undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, arson and sabotage attacks across Europe, and other incidents seen as possible Russian hybrid operations.
"We see that the Russian threat against Europe is increasing, including after a possible end of the war against Ukraine," MIVD director Peter Reesink said in the agency's annual report.
Russian hackers have also targeted an unspecified Dutch public service for the first time, according to Reesink.
"In the Netherlands, we saw the first (Russian) cyberattack against a public service, which was designed to take over the system. The attack was thwarted, but it was the first such case," he added.
The Dutch Interior Ministry said it first detected a Russian cyberattack on the public service's digital operating system last year. The ministry also reported that it had recorded a Russian cyber operation against critical infrastructure in the Netherlands, possibly in preparation for sabotage.
Dutch authorities described Russian interference as a combination of traditional acts of espionage, cyberattacks, and other attempts to influence society.
The Dutch government also reiterated warnings about espionage by Russian entities mapping infrastructure in the North Sea and acts of sabotage aimed at Internet cables, water, and energy supplies.
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.
Mika Aaltola
