"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.
Members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, Pablo de Greiff, Erik Mose (chair) and Jasminka Dzumhur (L to R), at a press conference in Kyiv, Dec. 2022. (Photo by Ruslan Kaniuka / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
The United Nations' Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has found continuing evidence that Russian troops are committing war crimes, according to the Commission's latest report on Sept. 25.
The Commission found evidence of illegal explosive attacks, torture, gender-based and sexual assault, and assaults on energy infrastructure.
The Commission documented attacks with explosive weapons in inhabited places that caused significant destruction and civilian casualties. It also recorded attacks on homes, a hospital, a train station, restaurants, stores, and other critical infrastructure, resulting in disruption to vital services and supplies.
The update was a continuation of earlier reports and reflected the Commission's ongoing investigations on human rights abuses in Ukraine.
According to Commission Chair Erik Mose, the commissioners recently visited Ukraine and held meetings with the government as well as attack victims.
The Commission continues to investigate and document Russian war crimes in part due to worries about the potential for genocide and incitement to genocide. It emphasized the need for accountability and expressed concern about the scope and seriousness of the crimes committed by the Russian armed forces.
Over 100,000 cases of war crimes, including indiscriminate bombardment, purposeful killing, summary execution, torture, and ill-treatment, are still being documented, investigated, and prosecuted by Ukraine.
