"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.
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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and U.S. President Joe Biden meet in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 12, 2023. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The U.S. is expected to deliver the first batch of new long-range bombs to Ukraine on Jan. 31, Politico reported, citing a U.S. official and three other people familiar with the matter.
The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) can reportedly strike at a range of 160 kilometers, expanding Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, alongside Storm Shadow/SCALP and ATACMS missiles.
According to Politico's sources, the Pentagon has successfully tested the new long-range precision bomb for Ukraine that could arrive “on the battlefield” on Jan. 31.
An unnamed U.S. official called GLSDB "a significant capability for Ukraine," which will allow it “to do more,” Politico reported.
The ground-launched version of weapon, co-developed by Boeing and Swedish Saab defense company, is currently not yet in U.S. inventory, Politico said. It has a similar air-launched version.
The delivery of the GLSDB was first announced in February 2023, with initial estimates putting their arrival in Ukraine in late 2023.
Russia claimed that it had shot down a GLSDB in March 2023, but a U.S. official then told Reuters that none of these weapons had been delivered to Ukraine so far.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Dinara Khalilova
