"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.
Italian Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin speaking on Italian television, Nov. 29th, 2022 (Photo: Massimo Di Vita via Getty Images)
Italy is no longer dependent on Russian gas as an energy resource, Italian Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in an interview on April 15.
"Previously, we used to obtain 40% of our gas needs from Russia, but today we only rely on them for a little over 10%. As a result, we have successfully reduced our dependence on Moscow," Pichetto Fratin told the newspaper Corriere della Sera.
According to Pichetto Fratin, Italy has been increasing its pipeline gas imports from the East using the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, as well as from Africa, through newly formed agreements with Algeria and Libya.
Italy is also looking to "increasingly develop the energy produced from renewable sources and to understand when it will be possible to implement fourth-generation nuclear power," Pichetto Fratin said.
Italy's Economic Minister Adolfo Urso said in an interview with the newspaper Il Messaggero on Feb. 13 that Italy had planned to stop being dependent on Russian gas entirely before the end of 2023.
Furthermore, a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan would ideally permit Italy to export energy to other countries by 2024 and become an "energy hub" in Europe, according to Urso.
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.
Alexander Query
