"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 line of Ukrainian vehicles waiting to cross the Moldova-Ukraine border checkpoint near the Moldovan town of Palanca on March 14, 2022. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, more than 23,000 Ukrainians have illegally crossed into Moldova, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)'s Moldovan service reported on July 10.
Under martial law, which has been in place since February 2022, Ukrainian men aged 18-60 with some exceptions are not allowed to leave the country because they could be called up for military service.
BBC Ukraine estimated in November 2023 that as many as 650,000 Ukrainian military-aged men had left the country since the beginning of the full-scale war.
According to data seen by RFE/RL, 7,700 Ukrainian men crossed into Moldova in the first six months of 2024.
Moldova and Ukraine share a border of about 1,222 kilometers (760 miles).
Many of those illegally crossing into Moldova intend to keep traveling into an EU country, although the Moldovan government offers differing levels of protection for foreigners who enter the country.
Moldovan Frontier Police chief Ruslan Galusca told RFE/RL that Ukrainian men who are detained after crossing "are not sanctioned for illegal entry."
A Ukrainian man who identified himself as Vasyl told RFE/RL that he had paid $10,000 for a smuggler to take him into Moldova via the Dniester River, adding that he intended to travel to Poland after.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Kateryna Denisova
