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.
Residents inspect the damaged building after a Russian attack in the city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on July 19, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukraine is facing a $10 billion "funding gap" for reconstruction projects in 2025, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on April 2.
Shmyhal's made the comments on social mediaafter a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Ukraine Donor Platform.
According to Shmyhal, international donors have allocated nearly $7.4 billion for "priority recovery projects" in 2025, leaving a nearly $10 billion deficit to finance reconstruction projects in 2025.
"According to the updated RDNA4 (Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment) assessment, Ukraine’s total reconstruction cost is estimated at $524 billion over the next decade," Shmyhal said on Telegram. "With the support of our partners, we continue Ukraine’s rapid recovery program, focusing on five key priorities: energy, housing, critical and social infrastructure, humanitarian demining, and private sector support."
Russia's full-scale war, which recently entered its fourth year, has sparked a deep humanitarian crisis in the country, leaving millions displaced and housing and infrastructure devastated in front-line regions.
Western allies and institutions have continue to support Ukraine with international aid since the start of Russia's invasion. Despite this, Ukraine's direct losses continue to increase, reaching $176 billion at the end of December 2024 compared to $152 billion in February last year.
Although gaps in funding persist, Shmyhal said that Kyiv's budgetary needs are being met through support of international donors, having given or pledged $39.3 billion to support Ukraine, according to a RDNA4 assessment by the World Bank.
"We are already working on securing support for 2026. We are grateful to the G7 countries and the European Commission for supporting the ERA initiative and directing funds to Ukraine from the profits of immobilized Russian assets," Shmyhal concluded.
Earlier on April 2, the World Bank announced that it would provide $432 million to Ukraine in funding to assist with the restoration of transport infrastructure damaged during the war.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Kateryna Hodunova
