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Zelensky announces earlier ceasefire starting May 6, ahead of Russia's 'Victory Day truce'

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May 4, 2026 11:56 pm The Kyiv Independent by Sonya Bandouil Zelensky holds a phone call with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Jan. 29, 2024. (Volodymyr Zelensky / X) President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine is declaring a ceasefire beginning at midnight on May 6, amid Russia's proposal for a temporary Victory Day truce from May 8-9. Zelensky said on May 4 that Ukraine had still received “no official appeal” from Moscow outlining the terms of the ceasefire that Russian officials have publicly discussed. “We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration’,” Zelensky wrote, referring to Russia’s upcoming Victory Day commemorations. He said the proposed ceasefire would begin at 00:00 on the night of May 5–6 and argued that this timeframe would be enough to test whether a genuine pause in fighting could take hold. “We will act reciprocally starting from that moment,” Zelensky said, adding that it was time for Russia to take concrete ...
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Explainer: Is Zelensky implicated in Ukraine's largest corruption scandal, and what do the new tapes reveal?

by Oleg Sukhov May 3, 2026 4:21 PM 10 min read/ From left: Timur Mindich, a businessman (Screenshot/Ukrainska Pravda), President Volodymyr Zelensky (Tom Nicholson/Getty Images), Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (Maksym Kishka/Frontliner/Getty Images)/ As a new round of leaked tapes surfaces in Ukraine's sweeping corruption scandal, one question stands at the center: Did President Volodymyr Zelensky know?/ Alleged transcripts of the audio tapes were published by media outlet Ukrainska Pravda on April 28 and May 1 and by lawmakers Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Oleksiy Honcharenko on May 1./ The tapes are allegedly part of an investigation conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) of a $100 million corruption scheme centered around the state nuclear monopoly Energoatom./ The Energoatom probe, launched last year, is the biggest corruption investigation of Zelensky's tenure./ The new transcripts of the alleged calls betw...
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AI Overview +7 : Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries [...]

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AI  [May 4] Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, particularly in the Black Sea city of Tuapse, have caused major fires and led to "black rain"—a toxic mix of oil, soot, and ash. This environmental crisis has damaged over 30 miles of coastline, coated homes in greasy residue, and left residents choking on fumes.    The Washington Post  +2 Key Aspects of the Crisis: Targeted Infrastructure: Ukraine is targeting oil facilities to cripple Russia's energy revenue, with the Tuapse refinery attacked multiple times in recent weeks.  The Washington Post  +2 Environmental Damage: The fires released heavy pollutants, causing "black rain" or oily residue to fall on nearby towns. Environmentalists consider this one of the region's worst disasters.   The Washington Post  +3 Health Hazards: Residents reported extreme air pollution, with authorities confirming high levels of carcinogens like benzene and xylene.   Yahoo  +1 Visible Impact:...
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Ukraine-related: Russian mogul Mordashov is loyal to Mr. Putin, and he and his wife are under sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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From The New York Times ; see  also; and also The Nord, anchored off Hong Kong in 2022. I n that year, the U.S. State Department publicly raised concerns after Hong Kong said it would not seize the vessel . Credit... Reuters Russia is one of Iran’s key allies. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, in Moscow on Monday to discuss Iran’s war with the United States and Israel. Mr. Mordashov, 60, is the chairman and main stakeholder of Severstal, one of Russia’s biggest steel makers. Shipping records show that the Nord is registered to Yurkon, a Russian firm that Mr. Mordashov’s wife, Marina A. Mordashova, owned for a brief period in 2022. Yurkon is registered in Cherepovets, a town north of Moscow that is home to Severstal’s main plant, according to the Russian corporate registry. The chief executive of Yurkon, which lists “rental and leasing of water transport equipment” as its main activity, is an individual linked to Severstal. Mr...
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Ukraine hits key Russian oil-loading port and 3 ‘shadow fleet’ tankers

Updated 10:55 AM EDT, May 3, 2026, AP ; article contains a video and links KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine on Sunday launched a wave of strikes against Russian oil targets, hitting a key loading port on the Baltic Sea and two tankers that Ukraine alleges were illegally used to transport Russian crude.   A nighttime drone strike sparked a blaze at Russia’s largest oil exporting port on the Baltic Sea, the port of Primorsk, according to Russian regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko. The port, operated by Russia’s state oil firm Transneft, is capable of handling hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. Primorsk, which was targeted multiple times in March, lies over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Ukraine, between the Russian-Finnish border and Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg. Local Gov. Drozdenko said that the drone strike did not cause an oil spill, but gave no immediate further comment regarding casualties or damage. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that ...
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40 Years After the Meltdown, War Layers Another Disaster on Chernobyl

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A Ukrainian soldier taking part in a training exercise in the Chernobyl exclusion zone this month. Ideas have been floated for how the contaminated zone could bring economic benefits to Ukraine. But for the foreseeable future, it will be an army-controlled security belt.   By Andrew E. Kramer and Evelina Riabenko Photographs by Brendan Hoffman Reporting from the Chernobyl exclusion zone  April 26, 2026  Vines twirl through the broken windows of long-abandoned homes, where the detritus of lives interrupted by disaster are still scattered about: children’s shoes, dishes, coats hanging on pegs, all covered in lichen and dust.   The ghost towns of the Chernobyl exclusion zone in northern Ukraine emptied of people after the catastrophic explosion and meltdown at the nuclear power plant there 40 years ago, on April 26, 1986. High levels of radiation mean humans may never live in them again. But these towns served another purpose for Ukrainian soldiers who recently traine...
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