Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"We have a plan B and a plan C. But our focus is plan A, the essence of which is to get everyone's support" for Ukraine's accession, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"(T)he presence at the Victory Parade of a country that bombs cities, hospitals, and daycares, and which has caused the deaths and injuries of over a million people over three years, is a shame," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"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.
Tu-22M and Tupolev Tu-160 take part in a rehearsal for 2020 Victory Day parade on Moscow's Tverskaya Street on June 20, 2020. (Photo by Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Two Tu-22M3 bombers were damaged in the July 25 strike targeting the Olenya airfield in Russia's Murmansk Oblast, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andrii Yusov told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on July 30.
Yusov reported prior that one Russian bomber was damaged in the attack at the airfield, located about 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.
In a recent comment to RFE/RL, the spokesperson also clarified that the strikes against the Russian airfields of Olenya in Murmansk Oblast, Engels in Saratov Oblast, and Diagilevo in Ryazan Oblast were carried out on July 25 at around 4 p.m. local time, not on July 27, as was reported earlier.
The restoration of the aircraft hit at the Olenya airfield may take several months, and during the attack, the air raid alarm did not work at the airfield, according to Yusov.
The RFE/RL's Russian service published on July 30 satellite images that "show no traces of a Ukrainian strike on the strategic airbase," according to the journalists.
Yusov said satellite images are "not the only source of information that should be relied on."
"The information has been confirmed from various sources, and we can already speak about this incident as something that definitely took place," he added.
Yusov also said that Ukraine's military intelligence "neither confirms nor denies" Ukraine's involvement in the attack.
While Ukraine does not havepermission to fire Western-made long-range weapons deep inside Russian territory, the country frequently uses domestically-produced drones.
Ukraine's drone operations often target oil refineries and airfields, aiming to reduce Russia's oil process capabilities and hinder its economy, as well as target Russian aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities.
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.
Chris York
