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.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich (R), who was detained last March on spying charges during a reporting trip to the Urals, is escorted out of the Lefortovsky Court building in Moscow on Jan. 26, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)
U.N. human rights advocates believe that Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him "immediately."
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, comprised of independent experts convened by the U.N.’s top human rights body, highlighted a "striking lack of any factual or legal substantiation" for the espionage charges against Gershkovich.
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 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.
If convicted, Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison, a likely outcome given that Russian courts have a conviction rate of over 99%.
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The U.N.'s five-member group noted that Gershkovich’s U.S. nationality has been a factor in his detention, rendering the case against him "discriminatory."
Matthew Gillett, the chair of the working group, said that their opinion is based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted in 1966 and ratified by 174 of the 193 U.N. member countries.
"The covenant is something that Russia has freely signed up to and accepted the obligations under, and therefore as a matter of international law, it is obliged to implement the provisions of the covenant," he said in an interview with Associated Press.
The U.N. group concluded that because Gershkovich's detention was arbitrary, no trial should occur. While the group cannot compel a response from Russia, it is tasked with investigating cases where countries violate their international commitments.
Nate Ostiller
