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: The online gambling company Favbet’s logo is seen during the second match of the Favbet-League semi-final playoff hockey series on March 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Yurii Yuriev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Russian ice hockey player Maxim Sergeyev was convicted by a Polish court on Dec. 16 on charges of espionage and sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Sergeyev, who previously played on the OKS Zagliebie Sosnowiec professional ice hockey team in the second division of Poland's junior league, was arrested in June 2023, the Russian independent media outlet Meduza reported.
Authorities said that Sergeyev, 21, spied on and took photos of Polish and NATO military sites, including a military equipment factory. After being recruited by a Russian intelligence official on Telegram, Sergeyev also posted pro-Russian "political content" on social media, writing, among other things, that the war in Ukraine "does not concern Poles."
Sergeyev received a small payment for the content through cryptocurrency transfers.
Prosecutors also said that Sergeyev later joined a 16-person Russian cell with the intention of sabotaging a train carrying weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine in exchange for 10,000 euros ($10,380).
Sergeyev pleadguilty to the charges, and will be deported back to Russia in May 2025 once his 2 year and 11 month sentence, which he is currently serving in Lublin, is up.
Several European countries have in recent months reported numerous cases of espionage and sabotage suspected of being carried out on the behest of Russia.
Alleged Russian spy rings have been discovered in countries including Ukraine, the U.K., and Slovenia.
Separately, it was revealed in May that Russia is recruiting violent right-wing extremists to carry out sabotage attacks in Europe and the U.K., raising concerns among intelligence chiefs.
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.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
