"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.
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 Lesia Ukrainka monument in front of the museum building. PHOTO: KRIM.BIZ.UA
The Lesia Ukrainka Museum in Yalta, located in occupied Crimea, has been effectively erased.
Lesia Ukrainka was a notable Ukrainian writer, poet, and activist for Ukrainian freedom, independence, and identity.
The building where the museum once stood now displays a plaque from Soviet times mentioning Lesia Ukrainka, but all other references to her have been removed by Russian authorities.
The museum has been repurposed under a new name, the Yalta Historical and Literary Museum, with exhibitions focusing on Yalta's history, music, and literature, as well as architect Nikolai Krasnov.
The fate of the original exhibits dedicated to Lesia Ukrainka is uncertain, with concerns that they may have been archived, relocated, or possibly destroyed.
This is part of a broader trend of Russian authorities destroying or repurposing cultural institutions in Crimea and Ukraine as a whole.
Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian official heading the Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, said on June 27 that it is "time to burn everything Ukrainian down to the root" so that "there is no trace left."
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Daria Svitlyk
