"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."
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Saturday, May 10
The visit marks Merz’s first trip to Ukraine, and the first time all four leaders have travelled there together.
The number includes 1,310 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
"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.
Saturday, May 10
"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.
(Updated: )Victory Day
The sanctions list includes 58 individuals and 74 companies, with 67 Russian enterprises related to military technology.
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.
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UK Defense Ministry: Russia pushes for defense production boost amid likely shortage
• 2 min read
Senior Russian leaders are likely aware that Russia’s military-industrial output is becoming a critical weakness, exacerbated by the strategic and operational miscalculation of the invasion of Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Feb. 15.
Production is “almost certainly” falling short of Russia’s Defense Ministry’s needs in Ukraine, the ministry wrote, citing Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev’s call to increase tank production and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s recent calls to support the war better.
"In a televised meeting on Jan. 12, Putin castigated Denis Manturov, the deputy prime minister, with responsibility for the defense industry, for 'fooling around'; one of the president's strongest public outbursts since the invasion."
Putin has started new offensive actions in Ukraine, “sending in thousands and thousands more troops,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Feb. 13, as quoted by the Financial Times.
“It is clear that we are in the race of logistics. Key capabilities like ammunition...must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield,” he said.
National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on Feb. 11 that Russia has already begun its major offensive in Ukraine’s east, but it faces “big problems” with it.
“The offensive they planned is gradually proceeding. But it’s not the one they expected to have,” he added.
On Feb. 11, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that Moscow was strengthening its grouping of troops near Lyman and Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk Oblast. According to the General Staff, “despite significant losses,” Russia doesn’t give up its intention to occupy the entire Donbas, an industrial heartland comprising Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
On Feb. 2, Ukraine’s intelligence warned that Russia was redeploying additional assault groups and military equipment ahead of “a massive offensive” to occupy the entire Donbas by March.
As of Feb. 15, about half of Donetsk Oblast and most of Luhansk Oblast are under Russian control.
Ukraine war latest: Wagner boss says Russia won't capture Bakhmut soon, West says no planes for now
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