"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.
An aircraft as seen on final approach flying for landing at the runway of Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal on 17 April 2022. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Nepali police have detained 10 people suspected of charging local youths exorbitant rates for travel visas to Russia, and then sending them to join the Russian military, Reuters reported on Dec. 6, citing a Nepali official.
Nepal urged on Dec. 5 the Russian government to stop recruiting Nepalese citizens into its army, amid growing reports of Nepalese mercenaries being killed while fighting in Ukraine, the Kathmandu Post reported.
The suspects charged unemployed youths up to $9,000 to travel on tourist visas to Russia through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and "then sent them for illegal recruitment into the Russian army," Kathmandu District Police chief Bhupendra Khatri told Reuters.
Nepal has so far confirmed the deaths of at least six Nepali nationals who were serving in the Russian army in Ukraine, the Kathmandu Post earlier reported.
The government lacks accurate data on how many of its citizens are currently fighting for Russia, but Milan Raj Tuladhar, the Nepalese ambassador to Moscow, told the Kathmandu Post that up to 200 have served in the Russian army.
"We have urged the Russian government to discourage entry and recruitment of Nepali nationals," Tuladhar said.
Tuladhar has also asked the Nepal government "to take stringent measures to curb smuggling of Nepali citizens to Russia."
Kathmandu District Police chief Bhupendra Khatri told Reuters that the detentions were part of a "case of human smuggling" and "organized crime."
Khatri said that "we are discussing with the government lawyers about the case and will produce them to the court," according to Reuters.
The case mirrors that of Cuba, which in September uncovered a human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting people to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
The U.K.'s Defense Ministry reported in September that Russia was trying to recruit foreigners and migrant workers to avoid announcing another mobilization drive before the presidential elections, which are to be held in 2024.
Nate Ostiller
