"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.
A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter flies over a joint Russian and Turkish convoy (not pictured) as it patrols oil fields near the town of al-Qahtaniyah, Syria. Feb. 4, 2021. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
A Russian military helicopter of the Baltic Fleet violated Polish airspace on the evening of April 25, the Polish military command said.
Polish military radar systems and civilian systems of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency tracked the aircraft over Poland's territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
"The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defense systems," the statement of the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command said on X on April 26.
"On-duty air defense forces and means remained on constant alert to ensure the security of Polish airspace," the command added.
Poland has regularly scrambled jets since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion due to Russian missile and drone attacks on western Ukraine. In several cases, Russian projectiles have briefly entered the Polish airspace.
Warsaw has also repeatedly accused Russian aircraft of airspace violations. On Feb. 11, a Russian SU-24MR military jet flew within Polish airspace in the Gdansk bay area of the Baltic Sea for over a minute, due to what the Russian side said was a failure of the navigation system.
Last year, Polish Brigadier General Tomasz Drewniak told Radio RMF24 that Russia is likely testing Poland's air defenses after a suspected Russian drone flew into Polish airspace on Aug. 26 amid a mass attack on Ukraine.
Natalia Yermak is a staff writer for the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a fixer-producer and contributing reporter for the New York Times since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Previously, she worked in film production and documentary.
Martin Fornusek
