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.
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.
Russian military cadets march during rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade on May 4, 2023, in Moscow, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Russia can mobilize 5 million troops who have undergone military service and training, while its overall mobilization capacity is as many as 20 million, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview with the LB.UA outlet published on April 9.
Syrskyi named the figure to underscore the disparity between Russia's and Ukraine's potential, arguing that Kyiv must keep mobilizing its forces to sustain resistance against Moscow's onslaught.
Russia has increased its force in Ukraine "fivefold since the beginning of the aggression," Syrskyi said in the interview, putting the number of Russian troops currently deployed in the country at 623,000.
"Every month, they increase it by 8,000-9,000; in a year, it's 120,000-130,000."
The disparity of forces is apparent on the battlefield, as the Ukrainian military has said Russian troops outnumber Ukrainian defenders 10 to 1 in some sectors.
According to Syrskyi, Ukraine must mobilize 30,000 soldiers every month, a figure previously named by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kremlin implemented only a partial mobilization in the fall of 2022 but has not declared a full draft, replenishing its forces with contract soldiers. Moscow has been largely successful in offsetting its massive battlefield losses in Ukraine, while Kyiv has struggled in recent months with manpower shortages.
Russia has been building up its military capacities despite the U.S.'s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the regular spring conscription of 160,000 men, the largest number in 14 years.
Although Russian conscripts are typically not deployed in active combat, Moscow has relied on financial incentives and other methods to recruit civilians for the war in Ukraine.
Syrskyi noted that some battlefield trends are working in Ukraine's favor, namely that Russia's advantage in artillery ammunition dropped from 10 to 1 to 2 to 1 over the past year.
The commander-in-chief connected this development to Ukraine's long-range strikes against Russian arms warehouses in the rear.
"(Russia) used about 40,000 or more rounds every day. After our strikes, the figure changed dramatically and is oscillating around 23,000; now, it has slightly increased, to 27,000-28,000."
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.
Yuliia Taradiuk
