"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 Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) officer in assault gear at an unspecified location and date. (Grigorenko/Getty Images)
The Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) claimed it prevented a so-called "terrorist attack" by a Russian anti-Kremlin militia member in Russia's Samara Oblast on March 26.
According to the FSB, the man, a Russian citizen, was a member of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), one of three anti-Kremlin militias that launched raids into Russia from Ukraine in mid-March.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the FSB's claim.
In a press conference last week, representatives of the groups said their goal was to "open a second front" and ease pressure on Ukrainian troops on the Kupiansk axis, with fighters "stabilizing the front" and "easing the pressure of Russian troops in certain areas."
The FSB claimed the man, who it claimed was "operating under the patronage of the Ukrainian special services," had made a bomb and was planning to detonate it at a "humanitarian aid reception point."
The man was allegedly killed by his own bomb while being arrested.
After the deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow last week, the Kremlin has made a concerted effort to tie the atrocity to Ukraine despite Islamic State (IS) taking responsibility and releasing bodycam footage.
During a speech on March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the terrorist attack in the concert hall in a Moscow suburb on March 22 "was committed by radical Islamists," but still alleged that Ukraine was to blame, without providing evidence.
"The U.S., through various channels, is trying to convince everyone that there is supposedly no trace of Kyiv in the bloody terrorist attack at Crocus (concert venue), that it is the banned Islamic State," Putin claimed.
"It is necessary to get answers to a number of questions whether radical Islamists really decided to strike Russia," Putin alleged, insinuating that the attack was carried out on behalf of another "client."
Hours after the attack, Putin attempted to connect the attack to Kyiv, claiming that the detained suspects planned to flee to Ukraine.
The White House said there was no indication that Ukraine was behind the Moscow attack.
Omar Ashour
