"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.
Photo for illustrative purposes: A local bus rides past sign read as "Kursk, the city of military glory" outside the Russian city of Kursk, the main city of Kursk Oblast, which borders Ukraine, on May 28, 2023. (Olga Maltseva /AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine has opened a hotline for Russian citizens in Kursk Oblast who wish to receive humanitarian aid or want to be evacuated to Ukraine amid the ongoing fighting in the area, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Aug. 14.
"The Reintegration Ministry opened a 24-hour hotline for residents of Kursk Oblast who need humanitarian aid or want to evacuate to Ukraine," she wrote. The Kyiv Independent has reached out to Vereshchuk's office for comment on the hotline and potential evacuation of Russians into Ukraine, but has not received an answer at the time of this publication.
Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6, and by Aug. 13, Ukraine said it controlled 74 settlements in the region. As the Russian territory under Ukrainian control has expanded, questions have arisen about how the areas should be managed.
Separately, Vereshchuk said on Aug. 14 that Ukraine's military is creating a "security zone" on Russian territory to protect Ukrainian border areas.
There are Russian civilians in the area, Vereshchuk said, which necessitates a response that adheres to international law.
Vereshchuk said that Ukraine would be conducting humanitarian operations in the area, including creating safe corridors for civilians to evacuate — both toward Ukraine and to other parts of Russia.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Aug. 14 that Russian civilians residing in parts of Kursk Oblast where fighting has been ongoing had been "abandoned" by authorities, who fled without leaving in place basic humanitarian necessities. The Interior Ministry would assist in the provision of food, water, medicine, and hygiene products to help support the local civilian population, Klymenko added.
According to Russian authorities, some 121,000 residents of Kursk Oblast have been evacuated so far, and a preliminary total of 180,000 evacuations is planned.
Owen Racer
