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.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on April 12, 2023. (Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal / Telegram)
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was admitted to a critical care unit in Washington, DC, due to "symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue," Reuters reported on Feb. 11, citing Walter Reed Military Medical Center.
While in the hospital, Austin transferred his duties to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, said Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder. The White House, Congress, and the chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were notified immediately, Ryder added.
In early December, Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer and hospitalized for related treatment. U.S. lawmakers criticized the defense secretary for failing to disclose the diagnosis and hospitalization on time, promoting Austin to make a public apology.
It remains unclear how long Austin should remain in the hospital, officials said.
The defense secretary's cancer prognosis is reportedly very good and the bladder issue should not complicate his full recovery, according to hospital officials.
Austin's failure to timely report his earlier diagnosis caused an embarrassment to President Joe Biden's administration. Three separate investigations have been opened into the defense secretary's behavior, and he is expected to testify in Congress on Feb. 29.
It remains unclear how Austin's current hospitalization will affect his plans to chair the Ukraine Defense Contact Group summit on Feb. 14.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
