"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.
Alleged footage of a burning oil terminal in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, on April 24, 2024. (Open sources/X)
Editor's note: The article was updated with the alleged footage of the targeted facility.
Fires broke out at energy and fuel facilities in Russia's Smolensk Oblast following a Ukrainian drone attack, Smolensk Oblast Governor Vasily Anokhin claimed on April 24.
A drone attack reportedly caused fires at facilities in the region's Smolensk and Yartsevskyi districts in the early hours of April 24.
Footage of what is purported to be a burning oil terminal in Yartsevo, Smolensk Oblast, began circulating on social media.
No casualties were reported.
The Kyiv Independent has reached out to Ukrainian officials for comment but has not immediately received a response.
Elsa Court
