President Volodymyr Zelensky had a "constructive" phone call with United States President Donald Trump on May 8, discussing the war, continued pressure on Russia, and a potential ceasefire.
The survey, conducted between April 24 and May 4, shows that 56.9% of respondents would not be willing to compromise on either territorial integrity or Ukraine’s pro-Western direction in any potential talks with Moscow.
U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced on May 8 to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.
The shooting occurred around 3:22 p.m. local time in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, a residential area in Bucha district, according to the Kyiv regional police.
Lawmakers urged the EU and its member states to step up efforts to hold Moscow accountable through international courts and support for Ukraine’s campaign to bring its children home.
The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sat down with author, historian, and Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, are one of the country’s biggest public events of the year. President of the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland Andrej Lushnycky who sheds some light on the things Putin would rather you didn’t know about World War II.
Washington’s involvement may also help mitigate political opposition in Europe, while giving the U.S. strategic visibility over future Russian energy flows, sources told Reuters.
Illustrative purposes only: Work of sea trading port of the Ust-Luga. Russia, in June 2015. (Konstik/Getty Images)
The Russian munitions carrier Maia-1 passed the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea as it is likely heading for the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea, the Open Source Center (OSC) research group said on Feb. 19.
This would mark the first time that the Russian-flagged vessel, sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU, entered European waters, the Financial Times noted.
Maia-1, owned by the sanctioned MG-Flot company, has reportedly made at least nine voyages to North Korea in the past five months.
North Korea has become Moscow's leading supporter in its war against Ukraine, providing artillery, shells, ballistic missiles, and over up to 12,000 soldiers for deployment in Russia's Kursk Oblast.
The MarineTraffic monitoring channel shows Maia-1 north of Egypt's Mediterranean coast and well past the Suez Canal as of Feb. 20, heading west. The content of Maia-1's cargo remains unclear.
Joe Byrne, a senior OSC analyst, told the Financial Times that Maia-1's trip is meant to "test" the Western resolve in enforcing sanctions.
Ust-Luga, Maia-1's declared destination, lies in Russia's northeastern Leningrad Oblast, only some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the border with NATO member Estonia. The city's port has reportedly served as a key hub for Russia's "shadow fleet" tankers used to avoid sanctions.
Russia has also been building a new liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Baltic port, though Western sanctions have hampered the process.
A Ukrainian drone strike against the Ust-Luga port was reported in January, while an oil tanker exploded at the port under unclear circumstances the following month.
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.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
