"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.
Former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych before the signing of an agreement on Feb. 21, 2014 in Kyiv, Ukraine that attempted to end the political crisis in the wake of the Euromaidan Revolution. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)
Oleksandr Yanukovych, the son of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, has made billions selling coal from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories to Turkey, independent investigative outlet Important Stories reported on Feb. 4.
The company behind the coal exports, Energoresurs, is registered in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and has exported nearly half a million tons of coal abroad between 2023 and 2024.
According to the investigation, the firm sources coal from suppliers in occupied Donbas and transports it to Turkey by rail and sea.
Journalists linked Energoresurs to Oleksandr Yanukovych through his coal holdings and mining enterprises. The company also received a loan from the Cypriot firm SL Holdings Limited, allegedly controlled by individuals close to the ex-president's son.
The coal is reportedly sold to an offshore company, Energy Union, registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Energoresurs sells the coal at a significantly low price — an average of $60 per ton in 2024 — allowing the company to minimize export duties before reselling it at a higher price on international markets.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Energoresurs exported coal to Bulgaria, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Romania. Since then, almost all coal shipments have been redirected to Turkey.
Between 2021 and 2023, the company reportedly generated $350,000 in revenue, though at a "modest transfer price," according to the report.
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.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
