"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.
Illustrative purposes only: A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on May 17, 2024 (Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
North Korea carried out a test launch of strategic cruise missiles to showcase its nuclear deterrence capabilities, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Feb. 28.
According to the KCNA, the missile exercise was conducted "to inform the enemies seriously violating" North Korea's security environment "of the Korean People's Army counterattack capability in any space and the readiness of its various nuclear operation means."
The test came as South Korea prepares for the "Freedom Shield" exercises with the U.S. in March.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who oversaw the launch, ordered the country's military to be in full nuclear strike readiness, calling it "the most perfect deterrence."
The strike was reportedly carried out on Feb. 26 west of the Korean peninsula, with the missile flying a trajectory of 1,587 kilometers (986 miles) for 133 minutes before hitting the targets.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula are mounting amid North Korea's series of missile tests intended as a warning to its South Korean neighbors and the U.S. Kim has reportedly received technological assistance for his missile and nuclear programs from Russia in exchange for arms and soldiers provided for Moscow's all-out war against Ukraine.
Up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces, reportedly suffering significant losses. South Korea's military believes that Pyongyang could dispatch more than 1,000 additional troops to Russia this year.
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.
Dmytro Basmat
