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.
Ukrainian law enforcement agents charged a platoon commander of Ukraine's 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade with abuse of authority on Dec. 26 accusing the individual of beating and humiliating subordinates, including ordering subordinates to tie the victim to a wooden cross. Although authorities did not name the accused, Ukrainian media reported that the individual in question was Vladyslav Pastukh. (Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation/web)
Ukrainian law enforcement agents have charged a platoon commander of Ukraine's 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade with abuse of authority, accusing the individual of beating and humiliating subordinates, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on Dec. 26.
Although authorities did not name the accused, Ukrainian media reported that the individual in question was Vladyslav Pastukh.
According to officials, the accused allegedly beat at least three soldier while serving along the front line between February and May 2024.
In one instance, after finding another soldier intoxicated, the accused kicked the soldier in the face as well as other parts of his body. In a separate instance, the commander ordered subordinates to tie the victim to a wooden cross, where the soldier was immobilized for four hours.
In another incident, the commander "beat another soldier over a dispute over the publication of a video recording on the internet about inadequate living conditions," the Prosecutor General's Office alleged. While a separate alleged assault occurred when a subordinate addressed the commander "inappropriately."
The accused has been charged with "abuse of authority by a military official" under Ukraine's Criminal Code, Hromadske reported, as well as two other charges related to desertion. The commander faces up to 12 years in prison, if convicted.
Pastukh was previously named in an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda that reported officers of 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade had beaten service members, extorted money from them, and tied one soldier to a wooden cross as a punishment.
Pastukh's godfather and commander of the brigade, Colonel Oleh Poberezhniuk, was taken into custody and charged with abuse of power on Dec. 19 for allegedly making four of his subordinates help him build his house in Khmelnytskyi Oblast in the fall of 2023.
The 211th Brigade, formed in August 2023, performs engineering work, builds defenses in the rear, and does not participate in direct combat.
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 Denisova
