"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 servicemen ride on a YPR-765 armoured personnel carrier (APC) on a road near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on April 11, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)
Recently leaked U.S. intelligence documents suggest that the war in Ukraine may persist "well beyond" 2023, Reuters reported on April 12.
According to the documents, Reuters wrote, U.S. intelligence believes that the fighting in eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts will reach a stalemate, with Russia failing to make any significant gains.
Both Ukrainian and Russian forces are considered to have "moderate" combat sustainability, another reason that has led U.S. intelligence to believe that the fighting will go on for some time, Reuters wrote.
The documents are part of a larger classified U.S. military and intelligence files leak that first appeared on the social media network Discord. Following the leak, the Pentagon announced that it had launched an investigation into the source of the leaks.
According to one leaked document, Ukraine's air defense systems may face depletion by mid-April and early May unless replenished. Failure to do so could potentially increase the risk of Russian airstrikes.
Another alleged document from early February raises doubts about the planned Ukrainian counteroffensive, warning of significant shortfalls in force generation and sustainment. The document also suggests that Ukraine's future counteroffensive may only result in modest territorial gains.
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov spoke about the intelligence leak during a visit to Spain on April 12, acknowledging that there is a "mix" of true and false information contained in them, the former already being outdated.
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.
Francis Farrell
