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.
Photo for illustration purposes: Ukrainian forces from the 22nd Brigade operate Poseidon drones near the Russian border in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 9, 2024. (Gian Marco Benedetto/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukraine reportedly targeted Russian facilities with drones as the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Nov. 20 that air defense forces shot down 44 drones overnight.
Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that drone wreckage damaged the premises of an enterprise in the town of Alekseevka on Nov. 19. Media reports identified the facility as an EFKO plant, officially a sauce manufacturer.
Separately, drone strikes were reported also in Voronezh Oblast, with local authorities claiming that five drones struck a civilian industrial facility, starting a fire.
The Voronezh and Belgorod oblasts lie at the border with Ukraine and are regularly targeted in cross-border drone strikes.
Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council's counter-disinformation center, said that the EFKO plant also secretly produces cargo drones used by the Russian military.
The official said that Ukrainian drones also attacked the 13th Arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of Russia's Defense Ministry (GRAU) near Kotovo in Novgorod Oblast, some 680 kilometers (420 miles) from Ukraine’s border.
According to Kovalenko, the arsenal stores critical military supplies, including artillery shells, multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) missiles, Iskander and anti-aircraft missiles, and ammunition for various systems, including the Tor complex.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that 22 drones were shot down over Novgorod Oblast overnight.
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Footage that purports to show drone strike against Voronezh Oblast, Russia, overnight on Nov. 20, 2024. (Astra/Telegram)
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
These strikes come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans on Nov. 19 to scale up domestic production of long-range drones and missiles.
As part of Ukraine’s resilience plan, the country aims to manufacture at least 30,000 long-range drones in the coming year and establish a new technology center to enhance its defense capabilities.
Ukrainian forces struck a military arsenal in Karachev, Bryansk Oblast, overnight on Nov. 19, with some reports indicating that Kyiv deployed U.S. ATACMS missiles for the first time on Russian soil.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Martin Fornusek
