"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.
Russian-controlled militants in Donetsk Oblast say Moscow seized the village of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut, Russian state-controlled news outlet TASS reported on Jan. 20.
Ukraine's General Staff hasn't confirmed the loss of the village but mentioned Russian attacks on Klishchiivka in its daily update.
Kremlin-controlled Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin reported the seizure of the village "by the group's units" on Jan. 19. On the same day, the Ukrainian military said it had repelled Russian attacks there.
Along with the Russian military, the Wagner Group mercenaries have taken part in the battles for both Soledar and Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk Oblast.
John Kirby, chief U.S. National Security Council spokesperson, said on Jan. 18 that Russia does not fully control Bakhmut or neighboring Soledar, despite Russian claims. Russia looks to capture the area as part of its larger goal of taking control of the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, which it has partly occupied since 2014.
Soledar was most likely occupied by Russia on Jan. 16, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.
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