"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 hip-hop band TNMK will perform their Warm Acoustic Vertep show at Bel Etage Music Hall in Kyiv on Jan. 15, 2022. (Oli Zitch, TNMK / Facebook)
Our picks of the best art, music, film and more in the capital. All listed venues require one of the following: certificate of vaccination, negative PCR or antigen test, or proof of recovery from Covid-19.
Ukrainian hip-hop pioneers Tanok Na Maidani Kongo, or TNMK, will yet again play a show along with a vertep, a traditional costumed Christmas pageant. Ukrainian carols, TNMK's best-known hits, and songs from their new album "Vatra Red" will be on the set list on Jan. 15 at Bel Etage.
TNMK - Warm Acoustic Vertep. Bel Etage Music Hall (16A Shota Rustaveli St.) Jan. 15, 8 p.m, Hr 600.
The Jazz Kolo community of Ukrainian musicians will explore some of the least radio-friendly Ukrainian tunes, which often help develop the country's music scene by pushing boundaries. The improvised show will feature the likes of trumpeter Dennis Adu, bassist Ihor Zakus, singers Anna Donstova and Yulia Roma at 32 Jazz Club on Jan. 15.
Ukrainian Song. 32 Jazz Club (32 Vozdvyzhenska St.) Jan. 15, 8 p.m., Hr 600.
Visceral British thriller "Surge" is worth watching for Ben Whishaw’s award-winning acting. The film is being shown in English at the Podil's iconic Zhovten cinema with Ukrainian subtitles. Last year’s top-grossing movie "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is still screening at Planeta Kino (Blockbuster), and so is Cannes Festival best director winner "Annette" at Zhovten and Kino42. For lovers of winter classics, there are also "Home Alone" and "Fargo" at Planeta Kino (Blockbuster, River Mall).
'Surge' (thriller in English with Ukrainian subtitles). Zhovten cinema (26 Kostiantynivska St.) Jan. 14-19, Hr 95-115.
Kyiv's iconic Closer club is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a masquerade party on Jan. 15. Timur Basha, Bambu, Borys and other familiar resident DJs are in the line-up with a few foreign guests, like Zip from Germany and from the U.K. – Craig Richards, DMX Krew and Junki Inoue.
Artur Korniienko is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, currently on a leave to serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He previously reported on Ukrainian literature, art, music, film and social issues for the Kyiv Post, including the controversial Babyn Yar memorial and other development projects opposed by the community. In 2021, he ran a podcast about Ukrainian migrant workers for RFE/RL on the Vaclav Havel Fellowship in Prague. With a Master's in Journalism from the Ukrainian Catholic University, Korniienko had also worked as a freelance journalist and a TV correspondent.
