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.
Illustrative image: A participant is pictured while holding a rainbow flag commonly known as the LGBT pride flag during the Gay Pride demonstration in Field of Mars. Several dozens of people came to Field of Mars in St. Petersburg for participation in VIII St. Petersburg LGBT Pride. (Igor Russak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A district court in Kemerovo Oblast has issued Russia’s first prison sentence under the country’s ban on the so-called “international LGBT movement,” independent Russian outlet Mediazona reported on Feb. 19.
The individual, who had been serving a prior prison sentence, was convicted of “LGBT extremism” and sentenced to six years in a maximum-security facility, with their total sentence adjusted to 15 years.
Authorities accused them of “involving” Russian citizens in the banned “international LGBT movement” while serving their time.
The court's ruling is the first prison sentence issued under this law, but on Jan. 29, a court in Nizhny Novgorod sentenced a woman to serve five days in administrative detention under this legislation for the crime of wearing frog-shaped earrings that displayed the image of a rainbow.
Then, on Feb. 1, a court in Volgograd Oblast found a defendant known as Artyom P. guilty after he posted a picture of an LBGT flag online and ordered him to pay a fine of 1,000 rubles ($11.05).
In November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court's decision to label the "international LGBT movement" as "extremist" has starkly intensified the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in general within the country.
This ruling, emerging from a lawsuit by the Justice Ministry accusing the LGBT movement of inciting social and religious discord, has effectively jeopardized all forms of LGBTQ+ rights activism and expression in Russia.
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn
