Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
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.
Combat work of the 82-mm mortar unit on Dece. 26, 2024 in Kupiansk, Ukraine. Russian troops attack the suburbs daily and try to start street fighting in the city on the left bank of the Oskil River. Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Jan. 12 that its forces had captured the villages of Yantarne in Donetsk Oblast and Kalynove in Kharkiv Oblast.
Ukraine has not commented on the claims, which could not be immediately verified.
Moscow's forces have ramped up pressure in Ukraine's east as Ukrainian defenders find themselves increasingly outnumbered and outgunned.
Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov on Jan. 10 shared footage showing Russian soldiers raising flags over damaged buildings, claiming to be located in Yantarne.
The estimated Russian advance in the Kurakhove sector in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, as of Jan. 12, 2025, according to DeepState. Yantarne marked by a black symbol. (DeepState/OpenStreetMaps)
The Ukrainian war monitoring website DeepState said that the situation in the village is still being clarified without confirming nor denying the loss of Yantarne, while Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces reported engagements in the area on Jan. 12.
The northeastern village of Kalynove lies on the west bank of the Oskil River and north of Kupiansk, a key logistical hub liberated by Ukraine during a counteroffensive in the fall of 2022.
Russian forces have been attempting to force the Oskil River for months in an attempt to outflank Ukrainian defenders. Andrii Besedin, head of the Kupiansk town military administration, said on Jan. 9 that Moscow's troops are trying to secure a bridgehead in the town of Dvorichna on the river's Ukraine-held western bank.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Kateryna Denisova
