"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 President Vladimir Putin meets with the Russian media after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states leaders' summit in Astana on July 4, 2024. (Sergei Guneyev/ POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on July 4 that he believes former President Donald Trump is "sincere" in his desire to end the full-scale war in Ukraine, but added that he was unfamiliar with "how he plans to do this."
Speaking from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan, Putin said that "we take (Trump's declared intention to end the war) completely seriously."
Trump has repeatedly promised to end Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine within 24 hours if elected but has not publicly elaborated on how he plans to do so. One plan reportedly involves ceding territory to Russia.
"If Trump knows how to finish this war, he should tell us today," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 3.
Putin also commented on President Joe Biden's performance at the presidential debate on June 27, which was widely criticized as being indicative of Biden's declining cognitive abilities due to the president's advanced age.
When asked if the debate had changed his opinion on whom he would like to see as the next U.S. president, Putin said, "Nothing has changed. Did we not know what could come? We knew."
Despite regular comments from Biden characterizing the Russian president as a "tyrant" or a "crazy SOB," Putin has previously said that he prefers Biden over Trump, saying that the current president is more "predictable."
Kateryna Denisova
