"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.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on April 11, 2024. (Denys Shmyhal/Facebook)
Bratislava will not block Kyiv's accession to the European Union, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in Slovakia on April 11.
Elected in September 2023 on a populist, Ukraine-skeptic platform, Fico halted arms supplies from Slovakia's military stocks and has repeatedly criticized both defense assistance for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
The Slovak prime minister has previously said that he does not oppose Ukraine's membership in the EU if Kyiv meets all criteria for accession.
"This is not speculation. This is absolute full support,” Fico said. “We are not a country that will put obstacles in your way. On the contrary, we want to help, to share our experience with you.”
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In terms of EU accession talks, Bratislava wants Ukraine to "quickly" become a member of the European Union, "as this is a guarantee for the country's prospects and peaceful development,"according to Fico.
Fico also said that Slovakia is ready for military cooperation with Ukraine on a commercial basis and offers assistance in demining.
After Ukraine applied to join the EU in 2022, European leaders agreed to open membership talks during a European Council summit last December.
The European Commission on March 12 proposed a draft framework for the membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova, another candidate to join the bloc, which currently includes 27 countries.
The Ukrainian government believes the negotiations on the country's accession to the European Union can start in the first half of 2024, Shmyhal said.
Alexander Query
