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.
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."
Illustrative purposes only: The entrance of the town of Sudzha, Kursk Oblast, Russia, on Aug. 8, 2024. (Anatoliy Zhdanov/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images)
Editor's note: The latest articles on Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast can be found here.
Russian authorities have introduced a so-called "counter-terrorism operation" in bordering Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts in response to Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region, Russian state-media outlet RIA Novosti reported on Aug. 10.
Following a surprise incursion by Ukrainian forces across the border days earlier, fighting has continued in the oblast, with Ukraine reportedly making gains deeper into Russian territory.
Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged on Aug. 9 that its forces were fighting the Ukrainian army on the outskirts of the town of Sudzhain Kursk Oblast.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee introduced new restrictive measures in the three oblasts including monitoring residents' phone conversations and restricting the movement of vehicles and pedestrians, New Voice reported.
Other measures include the temporary relocation of residents as well as loosely defined "public order protection."
Earlier in the day, Russia's Defense Ministry said it was sending additional military equipment to Kursk Oblast's Sudzha district - a town located 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.
Battles are also ongoing "a few dozen kilometers" from Kurchatov in Kursk Oblast, the town's mayor, Igor Korpunkov, claimed. The town is located some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Ukraine's Sumy Oblast and hosts the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry also said on Aug. 9 that the situation in Kursk Oblast had been declared a "federal emergency."
Kyiv has so far maintained a policy of silence on the incursion, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 8 that "Russia brought war to our land, and it should feel what it has done." He did not directly mention the incursion into Kursk Oblast.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian officials have regularly referred to Kyiv's democratically-elected government as a "terrorist regime" in an effort to justify its invasion.
In the last known instance, Russia instituted a counterterrorism operation on June 23 after militants allegedly fired on a synagogue, two churches, and a police post in Russia's Dagestan Republic.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Kateryna Hodunova
