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.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
An illustrative photo of the Telegram Messenger logo is displayed in the Apple Store for iPhone. (Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Russian Digital Development Ministry and Moscow's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, are discussing the possibility of introducing restrictions on calls made via messenger apps, Russian state media Kommersant reported on Dec. 24, citing its undisclosed sources.
The news comes as Russia continues to block foreign social networks and messenger apps, referring to companies' alleged violations of Russian law.
The possible blocking of calls is being justified by authorities as a crackdown on anti-fraud calls. According to the Russian telecommunications operator Megafon, the share of fraudulent calls in messenger apps is nearly 40%.
About 70% of fraudulent calls come from abroad, the Center for Countering Cyber Fraud of the Russian company Informzaschita (Informprotection) claimed.
According to Kommersant, Russian authorities are considering two scenarios — blocking voice traffic only from abroad, and banning all voice calls in messenger apps.
The final decision has not yet been made, Kommersant reported. Meanwhile, the Russian Digital Development Ministry told the media outlet that it is not yet developing regulations limiting voice traffic in messenger apps.
The Russian government is also considering blocking WhatsApp, an app owned by Meta, a company labeled as an "extremist organization" in Russia.
To avoid blocking, WhatsApp must agree to provide Russian law enforcement agencies with access to users' personal information upon request. Senator Artem Sheykin said earlier that refusing to do so is a violation of Russian law.
In March 2022, the Russian government blocked Facebook and Instagram. Two years later, Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, announced the blocking Viber and Signal apps.
Roskomnadzor also began throttling YouTube speeds in July, initially blaming technical issues caused by wear and tear on Google's servers. Google dismissed the claim, while Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein later confirmed the slowdowns were intentional.
Katie Marie Davies
