"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.
Illustrative image: An operator controls a reusable airstrike drone called Punisher made by the Ukrainian company UA Dynamics during a test in Kyiv region on Aug. 11, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Editor's note: This article is being updated.
Russia's Krasnodar region came under a "massive drone attack" overnight on Nov. 15, Governor Veniamin Kondratiev reported via his Telegram channel. One of the targeted districts hosts a military airfield.
The governor said that two municipalities in the region were targeted, with Russian air defense intercepting approximately 36 drones over the Krymsk and Krasnoarmeisk districts.
In Krymsk, debris from a drone fell on four residential properties, damaging the roof of one house and a car, according to Kondratiev. In the Krasnoarmeisk district, drone debris allegedly caused damage to the roof of a private house. No casualties were reported.
The Russian telegram channel Astra cited local sources suggesting the drones may have been targeting the Krymsk military airfield. This claim has not been confirmed by official sources, and the governor has not commented on it. The Ukrainian military has not commented on the attack.
Astra noted that earlier reports from local officials claimed 46 drones had been intercepted over the Krymsk area. Astra said that his statement was later removed without explanation.
The Russian Defense Ministry later said that its forces had intercepted 51 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 36 over the Krasnodar region, 10 over the Azov Sea, three over Russian-occupied Crimea, and another two over the Belgorod region.
Outmanned and outgunned on the battlefield, Ukraine has turned to homemade drones to try to exhaust Russian combat capabilities as much as possible from afar, targeting Russian military-industrial complex facilities, airbases, or oil refineries.
While Ukraine regularly claims attacks deep into Russia, it is difficult to verify the authenticity of the reports and the scale of the damage inflicted.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Dinara Khalilova
