"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.
A Russian flag with the emblem of Russia on hang on the monument of the Russian instructors in Bangui, on March 22, 2023 during a march in support of Russia's presence in the Central African Republic. (Barbara Debout/AFP)
The Russian Defense Ministry is continuing to expand its influence in Africa and subsume previous efforts by the Wagner Group, the Institute for the Study of War reported on Jan. 26 in their daily assessment.
A Russian Defense Ministry delegation allegedly arrived in Burkina Faso on Jan. 26 to discuss the rights and operations of the Russian military in the country.
Reports suggest Burkina Faso could become the "main coordination center" between Sahel Alliance members Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. Russian media is also reportedly operating in Burkina Faso to "compete" with the French media and "create a loyal information space." This cooperation could indicate that Russian influence and presence in the Sahel will last for years.
Additionally, the Director of the Russian Officers' Union for International Security (OUIS), Alexander Ivanov, reportedly told Russia's state-controlled media that several hundred Russian military personnel in the Central African Republic (CAR) would be "sufficient and effective."
Ivanov claimed that Russian military presence in CAR would strengthen Russia's position in CAR and a cooperation between the two countries is "of a strategic long-term nature." The Russian Ambassador to CAR, Alexander Bikantov, also told Russian media that the Russian MoD is currently negotiating the placement of a Russian military base in CAR and that this base would protect the CAR's national sovereignty.
The U.S. Treasury previously issued sanctions against the OUIS and Ivanov for acting as a Wagner Group front group operating in CAR. According to ISW, these recent statements could suggest that the Russian Defense Ministry has been successful in co-opting some former Wagner Group structures in the Central African Republic.
Russia's illicit activities and ties to authoritarian regimes in Africa have been under the public eye for years. Russian mercenaries on the continent, including the Wagner Group, whose operations help to fill Moscow's coffers, have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses against local populations.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
