"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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Germany, on June 11, 2024. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing new sanctions on pro-Russian politicians and propagandists, he announced on Jan. 19.
"We are blocking propagandists working for Russia, people who have gone over to the enemy's side, and those who help Russia continue the war," Zelensky said in a video address posted on Facebook.
The decree puts into effect a decision made earlier by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
Eighteen people were listed on the formal decree. Among them are prominent pro-Russian politicians Yuriy Boyko, Nestor Shufrych, and Yevhen Muraiev.
Zelensky also noted that the country is working to deprive pro-Russian figures of state awards, specifically mentioning the Hero of Ukraine title.
Last month, Ukraine's parliament voted to request that Zelensky to strip the Hero of Ukraine award from parliamentary member Yuriy Boyko. Boyko had days earlier repeated Russian propaganda talking points on social media about "radicals" controlling the streets in Ukraine.
Boyko previously led the former pro-Russian political party Opposition Platform — For Life, which was banned by the Supreme Court following Russia's full-scale invasion.
He was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine in 2004 during his tenure as head of Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz.
"There are still many names in the request for the revocation of awards," lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said after the parliamentary vote.
Shufrych was arrested last year on charges of subversive activities against Ukraine and financing Russia's National Guard in occupied Crimea. According to the investigation, Shufrych paid Russia's National Guard for guarding his elite real estate in Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Muraiev, former leader of the now-banned pro-Russian Nashi party, was charged with treason in 2023. The Security Service noted that Muraiev used his media empire, including the Nash TV channel, to disseminate pro-Russian narratives.
Shortly before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.K. Foreign Office warned that the Kremlin intends to install Muraiev as the head of the Russian puppet regime in Kyiv. Media reports have stated that Muraiev left Ukraine in 2022.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Kateryna Denisova
