A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"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.
Photo for illustrative purposes. A fire is seen at an oil depot in Tambov Oblast, Russia, after an alleged drone attack on June 20, 2024. (Open sources/Telegram).
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
An oil depot in the Yartsevo district of Russia's Smolensk region caught fire following a drone attack overnight on Dec. 31, according to regional authorities.
"A Ukrainian drone attack targeted a fuel and energy facility, resulting in fires," Yartsevo district head, Roman Zakharov, wrote on his Telegram channel. Emergency response teams have reportedly been dispatched to the scene to extinguish the flames.
The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify Zakahrov's claims.
Multiple explosions were heard in the Smolensk region and the city of Oryol in western Russia, according to several Telegram monitoring channels. Authorities have not provided further details on casualties or the extent of the damage.
Smolensk region shares borders with several Russian and Belarus regions and is located approximately 390 kilometers from Moscow.
In total, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed to have downed 68 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Of the drones, 25 were downed over Bryansk Oblast which borders Ukraine, 17 were shot down over occupied Crimea, 11 over Krasnodar Krai, 10 over Smolensk Oblast, two over Tver Oblast, and one each over Rostov, Kursk, and Kaluga oblasts.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Martin Fornusek
