"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.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is pictured during an annual press conference in Kyiv, on March 3, 2023. (Getty Images)
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on March 18 the dismissal of two ministers and named their replacements set to take office next week.
Shmyhal said in a Telegram post that Education Minister Serhiy Shkarlet would be replaced by Oksen Lisovyi, who currently works as a director of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a governmental institution focused on education for middle and high school-aged children.
Media reports about scandal-ridden Shkarlet's walkout from the cabinet emerged on March 17, with Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reporting that the minister was expected to resign that day.
He was marred by scandal even before the full-scale invasion after students from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy protested in February 2022, calling for his resignation. They accused him of sabotaging the election of the university's president.
The prime minister did not disclose the reasons for Shkarlet's soon-to-be official dismissal.
Shmyhal also said that Pavlo Riabikin, the minister for strategic industries, would be replaced by the former CEO of Ukraine's state-run railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia, Oleksandr Kamyshin.
Kamyshin, who has gained popularity after Ukrzaliznytsia became a lifeline for the country amid war, announced his resignation from the executive position on Feb. 27.
Shmyhal did not indicate an exact date when the government reshuffle will take place.
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.
