"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.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko (R) and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi (L) stand near a damaged transformer as they visit an electricity substation in Kyiv Oblast on Feb. 4, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP via Getty Images)
Russia's continued attacks against Ukraine's power grid heighten the risk of a nuclear accident, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned during his visit to Kyiv on Feb. 4.
Grossi is visiting Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian officials regarding nuclear safety in wartime before heading to Moscow to discuss the situation with Russian authorities. The visit marks his 11th mission to Kyiv since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion.
"I'm at Kyivska electrical substation—an important part of Ukraine's power grid essential for nuclear safety," Grossi wrote on X.
"A nuclear accident can result from a direct attack on a plant, but also from power supply disruption."
According to the IAEA, part of the purpose of the visit is to assess damage to infrastructure that plays a key role in Ukraine's nuclear safety. In a video filmed at the substation, Grossi said he was impressed with Ukraine's reconstruction efforts at the site despite the evident damage to critical infrastructure.
Grossi also held meetings with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
Since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022, Russia has relentlessly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, ramping up attacks in the winter months. Recent drone and missile strikes have necessitated emergency blackouts across the country.
These attacks and disruptions pose a risk to the safety of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, Grossi said.
"Having external power supply is essential," he said. "And of course, the situation is quite dire. We should not, I think, hide that fact.
Russian forces have occupied the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility, since March 2022. The plant has been repeatedly disconnected from Ukraine's power grid due to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, posing a serious hazard to nuclear safety.
The IAEA has had a rotating mission at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant since September 2022. The agency has also sent teams to monitor other nuclear facilities in Ukraine due to Russia's intensifying assaults on the energy system.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
