"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.
Pro-war Russian blogger Yegor Guzenko. (photo via Trinadtsatyy Telegram channel)
A Russian court said on Oct. 7 it had placed Yegor Guzenko, a pro-war blogger who has criticized the Kremlin, in custody on charges of "using violence" against a police officer.
Guzenko is the author of the popular Telegram channel Trinadtsaty (Thirteenth), which has over 300,000 subscribers. He covers Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, writing posts in support of Moscow's invasion.
Guzenko had previously participated in Russia's war against Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast since 2015 and in the Syrian civil war in 2019.
In September, Guzenko spoke out against Russian authorities, criticizing the arrest of ex-warlord Igor Girkin and saying that "traitors have taken over the country." The videos were soon deleted from his Telegram channel, according to Meduza.
Girkin, also known by his alias "Strelkov," is an ex-intelligence officer who played a pivotal role in Russia's aggression against Ukraine in 2014.
Girkin was arrested in July 2023 over his Telegram posts on extremism charges. His comments were often critical of the Kremlin's conduct in the war.
Guzenko was detained in the town of Novopavlovsk in Stavropol Krai on Oct. 5.
The Baza Telegram channel claimed that initially he was detained on suspicion of using drugs but the blogger "resisted" the police.
According to the Mash Telegram channel, Guzenko was at a concert wearing a mask and, when the police asked him to take it off, he allegedly attacked them with his fists.
In 2022, Guzenko was prosecuted on hooliganism charges after allegedly shooting a person in the face with pepper spray.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
