"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.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin and China's leader Xi Jinping at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on Oct. 18, 2023. (Grigory Sysoyev/Pool/AFP)
Chinese President Xi Jinping declared readiness to lead China-Russian relations to "a new height" together with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin's press service reported on Jan. 21 after a video call between the two leaders.
The call took place shortly after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
China has deepened its ties with Russia since the start of the Kremlin's full-scale war against Ukraine and has become Moscow's leading source of dual-use goods that feed the Russian defense industry. Beijing has nevertheless denied accusations of supporting Russia's military efforts.
In the call with Putin, Xi added that China is ready to stand with Russia to "face external uncertainties based on maintaining the stability and stress resistance of China-Russia relations for the prosperity of the two countries, international justice, and equality."
The Chinese president stressed that bilateral cooperation between Beijing and Moscow is gradually expanding and that joint trade is trending upward.
Putin, in turn, noted a 7% increase in trade between the two countries, which amounts to more than $220 billion. The Russian president also called China Russia's leading trading partner.
"China is the largest consumer of Russian energy resources. We hold the first place in terms of oil exports to China. Five years ago, together with you, we launched the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, and today Russia has taken the first place in natural gas supplies to China," Putin said.
Since February 2022, Putin has visited China twice — first just days before launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and again in May 2024. Xi visited Russia in March 2023, where he was welcomed by his "dear friend" Putin.
Beijing has also positioned itself as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, sending envoy Li Hui on multiple rounds of shuttle diplomacy in Europe.
China has criticized the U.S. and its allies for "exacerbating" the war by supplying arms to Ukraine, while NATO has named Beijing a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Simon Johnson
