"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.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers gather as they prepare to pay their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as part of celebrations marking the birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, known as the 'Day of the Shining Star', on Mansu hill in Pyongyang on Feb. 16, 2019. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
North Korean soldiers have been stationed at observation posts and checkpoints in Russia's Kursk Oblast as a "second echelon" not involved in direct combat, the Ukrainian military-run National Resistance Center reported on Dec. 4.
Pyongyang has dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to boost Russia's war in a sign of deepening cooperation between the two countries, deploying the soldiers to the embattled Kursk Oblast.
Subordinated to Russia’s 11th Airborne Assault Brigade, the North Korean forces guard areas where Russian troops are concentrated, the center said. Their deployment has reportedly allowed the Kremlin to reassign more Russian soldiers to front-line positions.
Speaking to Kyodo News, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is treating the first batch of North Korean soldiers well to attract tens of thousands more. At the same time, Zelensky revealed that the first North Korean troops had been killed in the war without revealing the number.
Separately, a Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson told the media that 2,000 North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia's Marine and airborne units fighting on the front.
"If they (North Korean troops) have joined units engaged in active hostilities, then we can confidently say that they have joined the fight," spokesperson Andrii Cherniak told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, adding that this might not necessarily mean deployment on front-line positions.
"Maybe they are not in advanced positions, but they enable aggression against Ukraine, ensure the killing of Ukrainian service members."
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also said on Nov. 27 that North Korean forces are "actively supporting" Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
While Umerov did not provide specifics, North Korea supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and artillery shells throughout the full-scale invasion, bolstering Moscow’s military capabilities.
Moscow and Pyongyang signed a strategic partnership agreement in June, pledging to provide military support to one another if either country comes under attack.
Martin Fornusek
