"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.
Russian high school students parade with a Russian flag during a "first bell" ceremony to mark the beginning of the school year in Moscow on Sept. 1, 2023. (Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images)
The Russian government is planning to open a political education workshop for youth that will be analogous to the Soviet-era Higher Komsomol School, which indoctrinated young Communist Party members, the Russian pro-state news agency RBK reported on April 15.
The Komsomol was a youth division (ages 14 to 28) of the Communist Party during the Soviet Union. The Higher Komsomol School trained future leaders, teachers, and party workers, offering degrees in "communist education."
Russia will launch a new program called the Digoria Political Education Workshop to train personnel who work with youth, a source in the Kremlin told RBK.
The source likened the program directly to the Higher Komsomol School.
"It will be its modern analog for young specialists in the socio-political sphere and youth policy administrators," he said.
Participants "will receive both ideological training and special knowledge on the management of youth organizations and participation in political processes."
Russia's state Youth Affairs Agency, Rosmolodezh, is expected to be the school's primary customer. By the end of the year, the school aims to conduct 12-13 educational programs for 100 people per course.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously drawn inspiration from the Soviet era when enacting modern-day Kremlin policy. In 2023, the government launched the state youth group Movement of the First, which Putin suggested naming the "Pioneers" — a callback to the Soviet-era organization for children.
Moscow's policy of "military and patriotic education" relies on schools, youth organizations, and camps to heavily militarize children, instilling loyalty among the younger generation towards Putin's expansionist ideology.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Daryna Shevchenko
