"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.
Apartment in Kyiv damaged by a Russian drone attack on Jan. 1, 2025. (Ukraine's State Emergency Service / Facebook)
The two victims killed in Russia's Jan. 1 drone strike on Kyiv were a married couple who both worked as scientists, Education and Science Minister Oksen Lisovyi announced.
Prominent neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and doctor of biological sciences Olesia Sokur were killed in the attack, Lisovyi said on Facebook. Zyma and Sokur were married.
"The family devoted almost their entire lives to science," Lisovyi said.
Zyma was a senior researcher and associate professor at the Institute for Biology and Medicine at the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Sokur also worked at the Institute as a deputy director of scientific work and a member of the Academic Council.
"My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased, as well as to all who suffered from today's morning terror," Lisovyi said.
Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv on the morning of Jan. 1, killing two people and injuring six others, including two pregnant women. The attack also damaged a building of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Russia's full-scale invasion has taken a severe toll on Ukraine's scientific community. According to a study published by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) on Dec. 11, 23.5 percent of scientists still living in Ukraine have lost access to critical input for their research, and 20.8 percent cannot physically access their institution.
Around 18% of Ukraine's scientists have fled the country amid Russia's ongoing war.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
