"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky visits troops in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Aug. 15, 2023. (Source: Presidential Office)
Following a visit to troops in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a video message on Aug. 15 reflecting on what he had learned from meeting soldiers "brigade by brigade."
Zelensky said that "real combat experience" as well as modern trends on the battlefield should be prioritized during training.
The training of soldiers is the responsibility of every commander at all levels, and the motivation of soldiers is "a direct consequence of how they learn to fight," the President added
By talking to soldiers directly, "we can assess the situation much more deeply," so that the specific experience of one brigade can be applied to the entire Armed Forces.
Zelensky visited troops of combat units deployed in the Melitopol direction in Zaporizhzhia Oblast following a visit to troops in Donetsk Oblast the day before.
"Every day I receive general information, which gives me a broad understanding of the situation," Zelensky said on Aug. 14, "but I wanted to visit all the brigades individually to understand the problems of each."
Martin Fornusek
