"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.
Russian army new conscripts attend a religious service at the Trinity Cathedral before their departure for garrisons in Saint Petersburg on May 23, 2023. (Photo by Olga MALTSEVA / AFP) (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)
A court in Uzbekistan sentenced a 39-year-old man to four years and two months of restricted freedom for participating in Russia's war against Ukraine, gazeta.uz reported on Jan. 5.
The man traveled to Moscow in April 2023 seeking seasonal work and later joined the Russian Armed Forces, after undergoing military training for two months at a military base in Moscow.
He then fought in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts until December 2023, and admitted to killing ten Ukrainian soldiers.
According to his claims, he was promised a monthly combat salary of 450,000 rubles but only received two payments of 150,000 rubles before the payments stopped.
The defendant admitted to financial hardship as the motivation for joining and voluntarily surrendered upon returning to Uzbekistan.
The court took into account his admission of guilt, remorse, and clean criminal record when determining the sentence.
In Uzbekistan, mercenary activities are punishable by up to 10 years, and another similar case recently resulted in a five-year prison sentence.
At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Uzbekistan declared that it did not recognize the proxy authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and supported Ukraine's territorial integrity.
However, Tashkent continues to actively trade with Moscow, and the Uzbek government maintains close ties with the Russian leadership.
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Olena Goncharova
