"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.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine, on Sept. 11, 2022. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)
Moscow is preparing to carry out strikes against Ukrainian nuclear facilities ahead of winter, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sept. 21, citing Kyiv's intelligence data.
The possible targets include open distribution devices at nuclear power plants and transmission substations, "which are essential for the safe functioning of the nuclear energy system," according to Sybiha.
"Damage to these facilities would create a high risk of a nuclear incident that will have global consequences," Sybiha said in a statement published on social media.
Ukraine's special services informed Kyiv's partners and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the possible threat.
"Russia is the only country that seized a nuclear power plant in Europe, blackmailing the world," added the minister.
"The Ukrainian peace formula contains a clause on ensuring radiation and nuclear safety. We call on all international organizations and states that respect the U.N. Charter to prevent the scenario of the terrorist country."
TheZaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Its position near the front line has led to heightenednuclear safety risks throughout Russia's full-scale war.
Ukraine's National Resistance Center reported on Sept. 15 that Russian forces continued to use the territory of the occupied power plant to deploy military personnel and store ammunition and explosives and criticized the IAEA for supposedly ignoring the fact.
In his Sept. 21 statement, Sybiha thanked the IAEA for agreeing to expand its missions at several energy facilities in Ukraine and called on the agency to implement the decision as quickly as possible.
The Ukrainian power grid has been heavily damaged during Russian aerial attacks, and it remains unclear how much of the infrastructure can be repaired before the temperatures drop.
Energy deficits necessitated rolling blackouts during the summer and autumn, with some officials warning that Ukrainians may have electricity for 6-7 hours per day in the upcoming winter.
Kateryna Hodunova
