"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 woman wearing a face mask, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, walks past a placard reading protective measures during the coronavirus outbreak, in Kyiv on March 24, 2020. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Three cases of the new FLiRT strain of coronavirus were detected in Ukraine in July, Ukraine's Health Ministry reported on Aug. 5.
The FLiRT strain of Covid-19 refers to a set of subvariants with similar mutations, all of which are derived from the Omicron variant. FLiRT was first coined as a name for these variants in March 2024.
Two cases were detected in Kyiv and one case was registered in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, the Health Ministry said. The patients were two women and a man, and all three were aged over 60.
"Available research shows that current vaccines, including boosters, remain effective in protecting against severe forms of Covid-19, although they may not completely prevent infection with the new strain," the Health Ministry said.
The FLiRT strain has specific mutations that affect those with weakened immunity more quickly, as the "virus binds better to cells and avoids the immune response," the Health Ministry said.
Over 5.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases have been recorded in Ukraine since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, leading to over 112,000 deaths, according to Health Ministry data. Ukraine officially lifted Covid-19 restrictions in July 2023.
Natalia Yermak
