"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.
This photograph shows a warning sign which reads "Dangerous! Mines!" placed near destroyed houses during a demining operation in Hrakove village, Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast, on April 18, 2023. (SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images)
A farmer was killed in an explosion caused by a Russian landmine in Kherson Oblast’s village of Novopetrivka on Aug. 29, the regional administration reported.
The farmer was cultivating a field when his tractor hit the mine left behind by the Russian army, according to the Kherson Oblast authorities.
The administration reminded that many fields in the region remain mined, urging residents to stay away from places not yet examined by sappers.
Croatia recently allocated one million euros ($1.1 million) for demining of Ukrainian agricultural lands, according to Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko.
The funds will reportedly go to the UN World Food Program to help farmers and food producers resume work in Ukrainian regions most affected by the war.
During Russia's full-scale invasion, casualties due to mine explosions have become a regular occurrence in Ukraine. The large-scale mining of Ukrainian land makes it difficult and highly dangerous for local farmers to grow crops and harvest, risking the country’s vital agricultural industry.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on March 1 that nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory had been mined since February last year.
The State Emergency Service earlier reported that after the end of the war, Ukraine would need at least 10 years to demine its territory.
Asami Terajima
