"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.
Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr "Teren" Budko will participate in the next season of "The Bachelor" on the Ukrainian TV channel STB. (STB)
Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr "Teren" Budko will be the next "Bachelor" of the Ukrainian adaptation of American TV series by the same name, the Ukrainian TV channel STB reported on May 13.
Budko joined the Carpathian Sich 49th Infantry Battalion as a volunteer at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Budko was severely injured in May 2022 in Kharkiv Oblast's Izium district and lost both legs. He underwent rehabilitation in the U.S. and started walking with prostheses.
"This fall, together with 'The Bachelor,' we will create a friendly national culture for veterans. And we will dive into a new love story," the STB's statementread.
"Today, the perfect man in the eyes of Ukrainian women is a defender with whom you feel safe," according to the statement.
"'The Bachelor' is a great opportunity for me to show many good and positive ideas that are changing us for the better," Budko said.
Budko also won a bronze medal in swimming at the Invictus Games and participated in the performance of the United Ukrainian Ballet in California in 2023.
He also published his first book, "The Story of a Stubborn Man," which touched on his life from Feb. 24 to Aug. 24, 2022.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
