"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.
In this photo illustration, the Goldman Sachs logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s exit from Russia on Jan. 31, allowing the U.S. firm to sell its business to the Armenia-based investment firm Balchug Capital.
Goldman Sachs entered into a binding agreement to offload its Russian subsidiary, making it one of the few Western banks to exit the country entirely, Bloomberg reported.
The decision follows a series of banking deals authorized by Putin, including a December decree allowing French bank Natixis to sell its Russian operations.
Earlier this month, the Netherlands' ING Groep NV reached an agreement to sell its Russian assets to Global Development JSC, a company owned by a Moscow-based financial investor.
Nearly three years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Western banks remain operational in the country, despite earlier pledges to withdraw.
Citigroup Inc. has ceased most corporate banking services in Russia but still holds $9 billion in assets there, according to Bloomberg.
The largest Western banks operating in Russia paid €800 million ($857 million) in taxes to Moscow's budget in 2023 — four times higher than before the invasion, according to the Financial Times.
Russia's banking sector initially suffered from sweeping Western sanctions, with profits plummeting by 90% in 2022. The Kremlin has since stabilized the industry by increasing state control and expanding ties with non-Western financial institutions.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
