"(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.
Viktor Medvedchuk at the session of the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 14, 2020. (Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The proceeds from the sale of two vehicles seized from pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk will be used to support the Ukrainian military, Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) reported on July 25.
ARMA is responsible for finding, tracing, and managing assets derived from corruption. The agency auctioned a buggy and quadbike belonging to Medvedchuk for Hr 921,777 ($22,362) on Prozorro, Ukraine's electronic public procurement platform.
The proceeds from the auction "will go to ARMA's deposit portfolio for further purchase of military bonds," the agency said.
The funds from the auction will therefore directly support the Ukrainian Armed Forces, AMRA added.
The vehicles are among the seized assets belonging to Medvedchuk and his wife Oksana Marchenko.
Once considered Russian President Vladimir Putin's right-hand man in Ukraine, Medvedchuk had been under house arrest at the start of the full-scale invasion.
After fleeing house arrest in February 2022, he was arrested again in April and handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange in September 2022.
Marchenko, an ex-TV host who married Medvedchuk in 2003, is thought to have fled Ukraine in March 2023.
Ukrainian courts have already seized various assets belonging to Marchenko, including land and real estate in Lviv Oblast and her shares in the Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant.
Martin Fornusek
