"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.
People search for victims after the Russian army launched a rocket attack on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Health Minister Viktor Liashko requested on Aug. 1 that law enforcement conduct additional inspections of the tender for the reconstruction of the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv, that was won by a company offering its services at a reportedly inflated price.
The Okhmatdyt hospital, Ukraine's largest children's medical center, was hit during a Russian missile attack on July 8, killing two people and injuring over 30. Over 600 patients and at least as many staff members were at the Okhmatdyt and the Ukrainian Center for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, located near the hospital, at the moment of the strike.
Investigative project Nashi Groshi reported that the Ukrainian company Bud-Technology won the tender and proposed to rebuild the destroyed building in the hospital at a significantly higher price than the other bidders — for a total of Hr 307 million ($7.4 million).
Among the 14 companies that submitted their bids for the tender, Bud-Technology was reportedly the third-highest bidder.
The contract with the winning company has not yet been signed, Liashko said.
In his Facebook post, the minister wrote that the bidders were evaluated according to five criteria, and some companies were excluded from the competition due to open criminal proceedings.
"I see that this choice has caused a resonance, which is why today we have turned to law enforcement agencies to conduct additional checks," Liashko said.
"For my part, I want to emphasize once again that my team and I are doing everything we can to make the process completely transparent."
Ukrainians raised Hr 300 million (around $7 million) within 41 hours to rebuild the Okhmatdyt children's hospital, the fundraising platform United24 said on July 10.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Natalia Yermak
