U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
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."
A screenshot from a video released by the 110th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian military allegedly showing a Russian execution of its soldiers in Donetsk Oblast. (Battalion of Unmanned Systems of the 110th Mechanized Brigade/Telegram)
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reacted to a video allegedly showing Russian troops executing Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) on Dec. 22, vowing to report "another crime" to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to seek justice.
"The video shows how Russian soldiers shot five captured Ukrainian defenders," Lubinets said in a Telegram post, referring to drone footage released by the 110th Mechanized Brigade earlier on Dec. 22 that appears to have captured Russian troops shooting surrendered Ukrainian soldiers from behind.
One of the press officers of the 110th, Ivan Sekach, told the Ukrainian media outlet NV that Russian troops had shot four encircled Ukrainian soldiers dead. Another two, he said, were already killed by shelling earlier. He said that the incident took place on the Velyka Novosilka axis in the eastern Donetsk Oblast, where Russian troops have recently intensified their push.
Throughout the full-scale war in Ukraine, the visual evidence of Russian troops executing Ukrainian soldiers mounts, showing a stark violation of the Geneva Conventions. It is however difficult to prove such apparent war crimes to the international court, as retrieving such bodies is often impossible.
The 110th brigade suffered a similar incident in February when its troops were withdrawing from the small industrial city of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. Two soldiers who barely escaped encirclement told the Kyiv Independent how six of their comrades, who were unable to flee on foot due to their injuries, were shot dead by Russian troops, citing videos that surfaced on the internet.
The 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade confirmed in a Feb. 19 statement that five soldiers were killed, and the fate of the last one was uncertain.
Yurii Belousov, the head of the department focused on war-related crimes, said in October that Kyiv is aware of 93 POWs who were executed by Russian soldiers across the full-scale war. The number has since passed to include over 100 such cases.
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Kamila Hrabchuk
