"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.
Smoke rises after the American-Israeli aircraft launched a series of airstrikes on the capital, Sanaa, Yemen, on March 15, 2025. (Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The U.S. launched airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 15 as President Donald Trump ordered "decisive" military action against the group.
Trump also said that the U.S. would hold Iran "fully accountable" if it didn't end support for the Houthi rebels "immediately."
The U.S. attack against the Houthi rebels and the threat to Iran come as Moscow continues to expand its partnership with Tehran. Iran has provided Russia with thousands of Shahed drones used in attacks against Ukrainian cities, as well as short-range ballistic missiles.
The strikes on the Houthis also come amid increasing tensions between their main backer, Iran, and Israel, which is supported by the U.S., including a controversy over Tehran's nuclear weapons program.
"Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, claiming that his predecessor Joe Biden's approach was "pathetically weak."
"They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones."
Trump said the U.S. would deploy “overwhelming lethal force” against the rebels “until we have achieved our objective."
CNN reported, citing the Houthi-run health ministry, that at least 31 people had been killed and 101 injured in Yemen by the U.S. strikes, and that most of the casualties were women and children. The Kyiv Independent could not verify this information.
Despite worsening relations between the U.S. and Iran, Trump's team is trying to resume the long-frozen diplomatic relations with one of Tehran's backers, Russia.
On March 13, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff paid a visit to Moscow for talks on the 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine had accepted after a U.S.-Ukrainian meeting in Saudi Arabia on March 11.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Oleg Sukhov
