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.
Evan Gershkovich during his trial in the city of Yekaterinburg, the Sverdlovsk Region, Russia on June 26, 2024. (Sverdlovsk Regional Court/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A Russian court on July 19 sentenced Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in jail on what are widely viewed as trumped-up charges of espionage.
The sentence – slightly under the 18 years prosecutors had asked for – will be served in a maximum security penal colony.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in late March 2023 while working on a story about the Wagner mercenary group's recruiting methods, as well as Russian citizens' views on the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have denied all the charges against Gershkovich and have called them politically motivated. During the trial, the 32-year-old pleaded not guilty.
The journalist has been in pre-trial detention in Russia for more than a year on espionage charges. His trial began in Yekaterinburg on June 26.
U.N. human rights advocates have said Russia violated international law by imprisoning Gershkovich and should release him "immediately."
In June, the Russian Prosecutor General's office accused Gershkovich of "gathering secret information" on orders from the CIA regarding a military equipment plant located 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg. Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government deny that he was a spy.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed on July 17 that there is "irrefutable evidence" that Gershkovich is guilty and claimed that the U.S. and U.K. have a long history of recruiting journalists as spies.
At a U.N. news conference, Lavrov said that Gershkovich's case is unrelated to any "attacks on journalism," according to the Associated Press.
"I would like to assure you that, just as much as you do, we are in favor of journalism and freedom of speech," Lavrov said.
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The Kyiv Independent news desk
