"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 Russia's attack on the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast on May 11, 2024. (Oleh Syniehubov/Telegram)
Russian troops attacked 27 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast over the past day, killing three people and injuring five, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 12.
As Russian forces launched new offensive operations in the north of Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, a number of border settlements have come under heavy strikes.
A massive attack on Vovchansk, a town only some five kilometers (three miles) south of the Russo-Ukrainian border, damaged dozens of houses on May 11 and killed a 51-year-old man, Syniehubov said. An 83-year-old woman and four men aged between 39 and 64 were reportedly injured.
A 38-year-old man was wounded in Vovchansk in another attack overnight on May 12.
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Dozens of houses and residential buildings were destroyed and damaged after Russian morning airstrikes against the town, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported.
A family of four was trapped under the rubble. First responders rescued two men and another one was able to get out on his own, according to the service. A 73-year-old woman was killed, Syniehubov said.
Russian forces also shelled the village of Hlyboke killing a 63-year-old man, the governor reported.
Ukraine's military said that Moscow's troops had been contained in the "gray zone" border villages, while Russia alleged the capture of five local settlements, including Pletenivka and Ohirtseve just north of Vovchansk.
Over the past two days, over 4,000 civilians in Kharkiv Oblast have been evacuated from their homes amid renewed Russian attacks on the region, Syniehubov said.
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.
Serhii Korovayny
