A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
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.
A Ryanair Boeing aircraft at Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport on Feb. 14, 2022, just 10 days before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion that caused all airports to halt operations. (Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Ryanair's proposals to set the stage for the resumption of commercial flights in Ukraine after the skies reopen have been met with "radio silence" for two years, the airline's CEO, Michael O'Leary, said on March 25.
The restart of flights is vital for rebuilding Ukraine's economy, a process that cannot start unless "somebody gives the airports a kick up the backside," O'Leary said in a video address to a Kyiv conference organized by the analytical center "We Build Ukraine" and attended by the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine closed its skies for commercial flights at the outbreak of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Discussions have been ongoing about the possible reopening of some airports in major cities like Kyiv or Lviv later this year as the U.S. pushes for a ceasefire.
O'Leary said that in July 2023, Ryanair submitted a proposal to the airports in the western city of Lviv and Boryspil near Kyiv that would see the company "deliver 5 million passengers to Ukraine within the first year of the skies reopening over Ukraine and grow that from 5 to 10 million passengers within five years."
"But disappointingly, we haven't heard back from them for over two years," the CEO said.
"I am somewhat at a loss to understand why the airports are not getting ready for the resumption of flights and why the airports are not doing the agreement with Ryanair."
Without a cost agreement with the airports, the airline would be able to deliver only about 1-1.5 million passengers instead of 5 million in the first year after the war, while the number of Kyiv routes would drop from 50 to 20, O'Leary said.
O'Leary added that meetings with the airports' management are expected later this week in Warsaw. He named the cost agreement with the airports and the safety of civilian travel as key conditions for Ryanair to resume flights in Ukraine.
Lviv’s Danylo Halytskyi International Airport's general director said earlier this month that flights could restart as early as April or May, according to an optimistic scenario under government consideration.
Director Tetiana Romanovska said that Lviv Airport is in talks with Wizz Air, Air Baltic, Turkish Airlines, SkyUp, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, and LOT on the possible resumption of flights.
The Ukrainian government claimed it is "95%" ready to reopen its skies but said discussions about resuming flights without sufficient air defenses would be "impractical" as long as the war is ongoing.
Yana Prots
