"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.
Footage that purports to show the aftermath of a drone attack in Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast, Russia, on April 17, 2025. (Astra/Telegram)
Editor's note: The article was updated with a statement by sources in Ukraine's Defense Forces.
Ukrainian drones struck positions of Russia's 112th Missile Brigade in Shuya in Ivanovo Oblast on April 17, marking a second day of the attacks in a row, sources in Ukraine's Defense Forces told the Kyiv Independent.
Shuya's residents reported explosions in the early morning hours of April 17, with local authorities issuing a drone alert. Footage shared online shows explosions and a fire in the area.
Independent news outlet Astra said it had geolocated one of the videos of the strike, placing it 180 meters from the brigade's garrison. The extent of damage or possible casualties is not immediately clear.
112th Guards Missile Brigade attacked again in Shuya, Ivanovo region. A fire breaks out, eyewitness footage shows.
ASTRA geolocated one of the available videos. The location is directly behind the military unit—approximately 180 meters from the garrison of the 112th Guards… pic.twitter.com/nay73ETde6
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its forces downed 71 Ukrainian drones overnight – almost 50 of them in Kursk Oblast and none over Ivanovo Oblast.
Ukraine has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.
Shuya is situated on the Teza River, approximately 33 kilometers (20 miles) from the regional center, Ivanovo. It lies about 700 kilometers (435 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border.
Earlier, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on April 15 that its forces had targeted and struck the base of the 448th Missile Brigade in Kursk Oblast, another unit linked to the attack on Sumy.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn
