"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.
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.
A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter flies over a joint Russian and Turkish convoy (not pictured) as it patrols oil fields near the town of al-Qahtaniyah, Syria. Feb. 4, 2021. (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
Three Russian helicopters were damaged over the past week as a result of sabotage operations coordinated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on July 27.
The operation damaged a Mi-28 and a Ka-226 helicopters on the territory of the Moscow-based National Center of Helicopter Construction of Mil and Kamov in the early hours of July 21. Explosions erupted at the enterprise, which develops, produces, and repairs helicopters.
While the attack caught the attention of the Moscow public, the Russian authorities hid the details, according to the source.
Another operation destroyed a Mi-8 helicopter on July 24 at the Samara Kryazh military airfield in the Samara region, roughly 800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The source did not provide further details about the attack.
Another Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed at the Samara base earlier on April 17, although HUR did not confirm Ukraine was behind the attack. The Mi-8 is used to transport both the Russian military and civilian government departments.
On July 5, Ukrainian partisan group ATESH (meaning Fire in Crimean Tatar), claimed to have sabotaged a railway line near Yekaterinburg to stop trains from transporting North Korean ammunition.
In June, ATESH infiltrated a Russian airfield in Voronezh, around 220 kilometers northeast of the border with Kharkiv Oblast. The group hinted at a sabotage operation, saying they left “surprises” for the Russians.
Ukraine is also targeting Russian airfields with drones. On July 27, a source in HUR said the agency had damaged one aircraft after an attack on three air bases deep inside Russia.
Russia has lost 326 helicopters since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to the latest report from the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Dominic is the business reporter for the Kyiv Independent. He has written for a number of publications including the Financial Times, bne IntelliNews, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, Euronews and New Eastern Europe. Previously, Dominic worked with StopFake as a disinformation expert, debunking Russian fake news in Europe.
Olena Goncharova
