"(T)he presence at the Victory Parade of a country that bombs cities, hospitals, and daycares, and which has caused the deaths and injuries of over a million people over three years, is a shame," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"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.
Sarcophagus isolation structure over the fourth power unit of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant at sunset in Chornobyl zone, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, on Sep. 1, 2024. (Karina Piliuhina/ The Kyiv Independent)
Ukraine is working to repair damage to the containment structure at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant following a Russian drone strike in February, Environment Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said on April 12.
Speaking at the site of the decommissioned plant, Hrynchuk noted that the strike had compromised the functionality of the massive protective arch installed in 2019 to prevent radioactive leaks.
The minister commented during the launch of a new 0.8-megawatt solar power station near Chornobyl ahead of two upcoming nuclear safety and energy conferences. She said that Ukraine is cooperating with international experts to assess the extent of the damage and determine the necessary steps to restore the arch's integrity.
"Unfortunately, after the attack, the arch partially lost its functionality. And now, I think, already in May, we will have the results of the analysis that we are currently conducting ...," Hrynchuk said. "We are actively working on this ... We, of course, need to restore the "arch" so that there are no leaks under any circumstances because ensuring nuclear and radiation safety is the main task."
She added that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as scientific institutions and companies involved in the arch’s original installation, are contributing to the analysis.
According to plant officials, the February 14 drone attack created a hole in the containment vessel’s outer layer and exploded inside. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the incident as "a provocation."
The structure was designed to enclose the unstable sarcophagus hastily built after the 1986 reactor explosion—the worst nuclear accident in history.
Hrynchuk also emphasized the importance of renewable energy in the Chornobyl exclusion zone, saying the new solar facility would support the site's power needs.
"We have been saying for many years that the exclusion zone needs to be transformed into a zone of renewal," she said. "And this territory, like no other in Ukraine, is suitable for developing renewable energy projects."
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Kate Tsurkan
