"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 Starlink terminal engineered by SpaceX is displayed during the Everything Electric London 2024 at ExCel on March 28, 2024, in London, England. (John Keeble / Getty Images)
Ukraine has no viable alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink network for secure satellite communications, Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told Politico on April 7, despite ongoing efforts to build up alternative capacity.
Berneke acknowledged that Eutelsat — a French satellite operator providing limited service to Ukraine through a German government-funded distributor — cannot yet match Starlink's scale.
"If we were to take over the entire connectivity capacity for Ukraine and all the citizens, — we wouldn't be able to do that. Let's just be very honest," she said.
While Eutelsat's OneWeb network has begun supporting Ukrainian government operations with fewer than 1,000 active terminals, the company aims to scale up to 5,000–10,000 units.
This remains far behind the estimated 50,000 Starlink terminals active across Ukraine, serving military, medical, and civilian sectors.
Berneke also raised concerns over the geopolitical risks of relying on a single private provider. "Working with Starlink is a dependence that can be decided in the White House or Mar-a-Lago," she said, referencing U.S. President Donald Trump's residence.
Those concerns have grown amid reports that Washington may use Starlink access as leverage. In February, Reutersreported the U.S. had threatened to cut the service unless Ukraine signed a critical minerals deal.
Tech billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied these claims, and on March 9, he claimed that cutting Ukraine off from Starlink would cause the country's entire front line to collapse.
Uncertainty deepened following a Feb. 28 meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to a temporary halt in U.S. aid and intelligence sharing while the White House pushed Kyiv toward negotiations with Moscow.
Eutelsat was in talks with the European Union on potentially expanding its services to reduce Ukraine's dependence on Musk's network, Bloomberg reported on March 6.
The company's hybrid satellite approach, combining low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, could support military operations, including drone attacks, if scaled.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
