"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.
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 recruited agents were two teenagers aged 15 and 17 who sought quick money on Telegram channels, the Security Service of Ukraine said.
Russia's intelligence service blew up two teenagers it had recruited to carry out a terrorist attack in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk on the evening of March 11, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on March 12.
Explosions were reported near the railway station and in a high-rise building in Ivano-Frankivsk. One person was killed and three other injured, authorities said.
The remote detonation of self-made devices used in Russian intelligence planned attacks is a new tactic of Moscow's in its covert operations against Ukraine, allowing it to carry out attacks while getting rid of perpetrators, Serhii Andrushchenko, SBU's deputy head, previously told the Kyiv Independent.
According to law enforcement, the recruited agents weretwo teenagers aged 15 and 17 who sought quick money on Telegram channels. Russian intelligence services allegedly recruited them online and offered payment for carrying out a series of terror attacks in the city.
A Russian handler rented an apartment for the teenagers in a high-rise building near the local railway station, the SBU said.
Following Russia's instructions, the two made explosives and two devices disguised as thermoses. They equipped both explosives with remote detonators, according to the SBU.
The teenagers were allegedly heading to a designated location to place one of the explosive devices when the Russian intelligence service activated the explosives in their package. Another explosive was detonated in the rented apartment.
The 17-year-old boy was killed, and the 15-year-old was hospitalized with serious injuries. Two passers-by — a 20-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman — also suffered injuries.
If charged, the 15-year-old could face life imprisonment.
In February, the SBU reported that Russia recruited the attacker responsible for a deadly explosion at a military enlistment office in Rivne.
Russia also recruited minors via social media to set fire to military cars parked in Ukrainian cities, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said. Last year, cases of setting fire to military vehicles were recorded in Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Kateryna Hodunova
