"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.
Photo for illustrative purposes. Children take part in preschool classes at the metro station of Svobody Square on Feb. 17, 2024, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Diego Fedele / Getty Images)
The U.S. State Department announced on March 27 that it would provide short-term funding to an initiative documenting Ukrainian children abducted by Russia after White House terminated the program, Reuters reported.
The program, run by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab under the State Department's Conflict Observatory, used biometric data and satellite imagery to track Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children.
At least 19,500 Ukrainian children have been confirmed as abducted by Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion, with only about 1,200 returned, according to Ukraine's Children of War database.
Yale's research — funded by the U.S. government — has helped track thousands of these cases.
Researchers reportedly lost access to the database last month after officials terminated the contract, cutting off critical evidence for war crimes investigations.
A State Department spokesperson said the short-term funding would allow program implementers to ensure that essential data on abducted children is properly transferred to the relevant authorities.
"It is part of the standard close-out procedures for terminated programs," the spokesperson said.
The comments come amid U.S. President Donald Trump administration's efforts to cut various agencies and initiatives, including foreign aid, calling it "waste, fraud, and abuse."
The multiple cuts to foreign funding have begun to affect international efforts to hold Russia accountable, including for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 17, 2023, for the deportation of Ukrainian children.
As part of ongoing U.S.-Russia negotiations, U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Walz said that returning kidnapped Ukrainian children is among several "confidence-building measures" being discussed.
Ukrainian officials have named their return as a key condition for any future peace agreement with Russia.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
