"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.
The aftermath of a Russian attack against Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Sept. 11, 2024. (Governor Vadym Filaskin/Telegram)
Russia struck the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast twice on Sept. 11, killing three people and injuring five, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Russian forces initially hit the city around midday with artillery, killing two women aged 73 and 81. Four houses, a shop, and a power line were reported as damaged.
Kostiantynivka was hit again roughly two hours later, leaving one more person dead and five injured, Filashkin said. The full extent of the consequences is being determined.
Kostiantynivka is located 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the front line at Chasiv Yar. The city had a population of around 67,000 before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russian attacks against Donetsk Oblast killed one person and injured three on Sept. 10, authorities reported.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
