"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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) holds an alleged portrait of his father during the Immortal Regiment, a rally where people carrying portraits of their relatives-veterans of World War II, after the Victory Day Parade at Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2022. (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian nationals in the U.S. plan to hold the Immortal Regiment March in Washington, D.C., on May 3 to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, Ukrinform reported on April 21.
This will be the first time the event has been held in the U.S. capital since the outbreak of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine in 2022.
The Immortal Regiment March is typically a mass event throughout Russia, involving processions of people carrying photos of their relatives who fought in or were killed during World War II.
The organizers of the movement, who launched it in 2011, have since complained that Russian officials hijacked it for their political purposes.
The march is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. local time in Lafayette Square, near the White House, according to the brochure, which was distributed among Russian-speaking groups in the U.S. and obtained by Ukrinform.
The marchers will walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the World War II Memorial in downtown Washington, D.C.
Similar events must be authorized by municipal authorities. The organizers said they had permission, the Ukrainian news agency reported, citing undisclosed sources.
The Metropolitan Police Department's press service in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to the news agency's request for comment, Ukrinform reported.
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.
Kate Tsurkan
