"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.
Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov at the Globsec forum in Prague, Czechia, on Aug. 30, 2024. (Ray Baseley/The Kyiv Independent)
Ukraine seeks to involve weapons manufacturers in developing AI for drone swarms and "cheap missiles" to counter Russian kamikaze drones, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said at the Globsec Forum in Prague on Aug. 30, as reported by a Kyiv Independent reporter.
According to Fedorov, Ukrainian soldiers now face numerous challenges, including Russian equipment and infantry, ammunition shortages, kamikaze drones, and reconnaissance drones.
Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov at the Globsec forum in Prague, Czechia, on Aug. 30, 2024. (Ray Baseley/The Kyiv Independent)
In response, Ukrainian forces are employing low-cost first-person-view (FPV) drones, reconnaissance drones, small air defense systems, and domestically produced long-range drones to strike Russian targets, Fedorov said.
"What are the next challenges where we need your help? How to invent effective laser guidance, how to develop AI for swarms of drones, how to produce Ukrainian HIMARS, how to develop cheap Ukrainian missiles to shoot down Shaheds?" Fedorov said.
"I think we can succeed only together. We can work together and invent. We can produce together."
Kyiv has the capacity to manufacture more than three million drones annually but needs financing from foreign partners, Deputy Strategic Industries Minister Hanna Hvozdiar said.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Chris York
