"(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 piece of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is pictured in a field near the village of Hrabove, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on July 20, 2014. (Bulent Kilic /AFP via Getty Images)
The Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issued a statement on July 18 demanding Russia admit its responsibility for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.
The Council's statement comes one day after the 10th anniversary of the plane's destruction on July 17, 2014. The flight was downed by a Russian Russian Buk surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 people.
"The European Union reiterates its call on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility in this tragedy and to cooperate fully in serving justice," the statement said.
The District Court of The Hague in November 2022 sentenced in absentia two Russian nationals and one Ukrainian national to life imprisonment for their involvement in the downing of flight MH17.
A fourth defendant, also a Russian national, was acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence connecting him to the crime.
According to the Council, the Court's verdict "makes it abundantly clear" that the missile "belonged beyond doubt to the armed forces of the Russian Federation."
"No Russian disinformation operation can distract from these basic facts, established by a court of law," the statement read.
Russia denied responsibility for the downing, and none of those deemed responsible have ever been brought to justice.
President Volodymyr Zelensky commemorated the anniversary of the tragedy in a statement on July 17.
"It's been 10 years since Russian murderers shot down the MH17 passenger plane in the skies over Ukraine," he said.
"The whole world witnessed then who came to wage war against Ukraine and that Russian evil is a threat not only to us but to all."
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Elsa Court
