"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.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 03, 2024. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)
Ukraine has "hard decisions" to make about further mobilization to fight Russia's full-scale war, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference in Brussels on Dec. 4.
"These are necessary decisions," Blinken said.
His remarks are among the latest from top U.S. officials amid reports that Western partners are pressuring Ukraine to lower its minimum mobilization age from 25 to 18 in an effort to replenish military ranks.
Blinken described mobilization as "critical" for Ukraine, adding that despite having funds and ammunition, people are needed to repel Russian aggression.
"For every person, every soldier that Ukraine mobilizes, we are committed to making sure that they have the training and the equipment they need to effectively defend the country," the U.S. Secretary of State said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has refuted Washington's appeals. According to the president, partners have only provided enough aid to fully equip 2.5 out of the 10 Ukrainian brigades that Ukraine had requested support for.
"How do you want me just to mobilize young guys, (as) they don't know where to go – in which brigade, with which weapon they will fight?" the president said in early December.
Although Ukraine adopted a major bill reforming the draft in April, the mobilization draft slowed down in autumn, leaving many front-line units undermanned in the face of more numerous Russian troops.
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.
Natalia Yermak
