"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.
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery on the front line in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on Oct. 27, 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
More than 30,000 Russian troops are carrying out a renewed offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko said in an interview with AFP published on May 13.
Russian troops launched a new wave of attacks on May 10, mainly focusing on border settlements in Kharkiv Oblast.
Ukraine's General Staff said on May 13 that Russia has "tactical success" in the fight for Vovchansk, a town in northern Kharkiv Oblast. Urban combat was ongoing in the northern outskirts of the town, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
"According to their reports, the military is ready to repel (the attack), it is fighting hard. But there are quite a lot of Russians," Lytvynenko said.
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War Notes
In total, Russia deployed around 50,000 soldiers on the border with Kharkiv Oblast before its offensive, he said.
There is currently no threat of an assault on the city of Kharkiv, Lytvynenko added, echoing earlier statements of the local authorities.
Russian forces failed to take Kharkiv in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion despite the fact that the city lies less than 30 kilometers from the Russian border.
Russia "would need years" to occupy Kharkiv, Oleksandr Pivnenko, the commander of Ukraine's National Guard, said amid the looming threat of renewed attack.
A total of 7,023 civilians in Kharkiv Oblast have been evacuated from their homes amid heavy fighting in the region, Syniehubov reported on May 14.
Francis Farrell
