"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.
An SBU officer surveys items confiscated during an investigation into an alleged Russian spy network on Jan. 18, 2025. (The Security Service of Ukraine)
A Kyiv Metro engineer allegedly let a network of agents who helped direct Russian missile and drone attacks against the capital and Kharkiv Oblast, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Jan. 18.
The agents tracked the movement and positions of Ukrainian troops in order to coordinate Russian aerial attacks, the SBU said.
Russia's Federal Security Service recruited the network leader, a Kyiv Metro engineer, during a meeting in Moscow in 2015, according to the SBU. After the full-scale invasion in 2022, he was instructed to create a network of agents who would monitor the activitiy of Ukrainian troops and cargo.
The engineer allegedly recruited acquaintances into the network, including a Kharkiv resident who deserted the Ukrainian military and previously worked for Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) for 10 years. This agent tracked and reported on the movements of Ukraine's military.
Another agent, an international road transport driver, identified and shared the coordinates of military checkpoints.
The ringleader then passed this intelligence on to the FSB, the SBU claimed.
SBU officers have detained the alleged leader in Kyiv and another suspected agent in Kharkiv. During the investigation, officers seized cell phones that they said contain evidence of collaboration with Russia, along with four firearms.
Both suspects have been charged with high treason in conjunction with the Prosecutor General's Office. A third suspect, currently in hiding abroad, may also be charged.
The suspects face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, along with confiscation of property.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Kateryna Denisova
