"(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.
Sumy Oblast Governor Volodymyr Artiukh on April 10, 2025. (Sumy Regional Military Administration)
The Ukrainian government approved the dismissal of Volodymyr Artiukh as the Sumy Oblast governor and of Artem Lysohor as the Luhansk Oblast governor, said Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in parliament, on April 15.
Artiukh's dismissal comes amid accusations that the governor planned a military awards ceremony in Sumy on April 13, the same day that Russia launched a deadly missile attack that killed 35 people and injured around 120.
Artiukh has confirmed the plans for the event but denied responsibility for initiating it.
Melnychuk did not immediately comment on the reasons for the dismissals. Oleksii Kharchenko will take over as the Luhansk Oblast governor, and Oleh Hryhorov was appointed governor of Sumy Oblast.
Artiukh has faced mounting scrutiny after Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin accused him of inadvertently creating a pretense for a Russian attack. The mayor argued that the governor's plan to hand out awards to soldiers of the 117th Brigade on April 13 posed an undue risk to both civilian residents and military personnel.
Russia reportedly deployed cluster munitions in heavily populated areas in an attack that was broadly denounced as a war crime.
Members of the Sumy Regional Administration Council submitted a motion of no-confidence against the governor on April 14.
Artiukh, a 66-year-old soldier and politician, was born in Amur Oblast in the USSR's Far East and previously served as the deputy head of the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces. He had led the administration of Sumy Oblast, a northeastern region at the border with Russia, since April 2023.
Lysohor, 41, was born in Dnipropetrovsk (today's Dnipro) and is a former police officer and military service member. Like Artiukh, he has served as governor since April 2023, administrating eastern Luhansk Oblast, which is currently almost entirely occupied by Russian forces.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Asami Terajima
