Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"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.
Ukraine's Olga Kharlan celebrates after winning against Japan's team in the women's saber team semi-final bout between Ukraine and Japan during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Grand Palais in Paris on Aug. 3, 2024. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
After Ukraine's women’s saber fencing team won its first gold at 2024 Olympics on Aug. 3, saber fencer Olga Kharlan becomes the most decorated Olympian in Ukraine’s history by medal count.
Ukraine has so far won three medals at the Paris Olympics.
Kharlan's achievements now include two gold medals, a 2016 silver medal in team events, along with three individual bronze medals (2012, 2016, 2024). Previously swimmer Yana Klochkova, who retired in 2008, held Ukraine's record with five medals.
In many ways, Kharlan has become a leading figure for Ukrainian athletes opposing Russia's aggression. Her status solidified in July 2023, when she refused to shake hands with her Russian opponent, Anna Smirnova, at the world championships in Milan. This stance led to her disqualification and cost her valuable Olympic qualifying points.
However, despite receiving a guaranteed entry for Paris from Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee and a former fencer himself, Kharlan and her teammates qualified on their own merit.
The 33-year-old champion is a native of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, where she graduated from the local school of physical culture. Her father was also a professional athlete in sailing.
At the age of 14, Kharlan made a sensational debut at the senior European Championships, advancing to the quarter-finals. The following year, in 2005, she competed in her first World Championships.
Throughout her career, Kharlan has achieved remarkable success, becoming a six-time world champion, an eight-time European champion, and winning two gold medals at the European Games.
Ukraine's women's saber fencing team won the country's first gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, defeating South Korea with a score of 45-42 in the finals.
Ukraine's five-time Olympic medalist Olga Kharlan, along with fencers Olena Kravatska, Alina Komashchuk, and Yuliia Bakastova, made their way to the Olympic finals by beating Italy and Japan.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
