"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 Reni-Giurgiulesti international automobile checkpoint on the Ukraine-Moldova border. (Liashonok / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Kyiv and Chisinau are discussing the possibility of returning Ukrainian draft dodgers staying in Moldova, some of whom have been granted asylum in the country, Ukraine’s ambassador Marko Shevchenko said on July 23.
Men of draft age are banned from leaving Ukraine during martial law, with several exemptions.
There are no official figures for the number of people who have illegally left the country but a November 2023 report by the BBC indicated around 20,000 Ukrainian men have crossed into bordering countries and escaped mobilization.
"When I talk to colleagues, I say that if we cannot solve a big problem, it's better to solve smaller ones individually – what to do with people whom Moldova has denied asylum," Shevchenko said in comments reported by RBC Ukraine.
About 11,000 Ukrainian men have illegally crossed the border into Romania since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on May 9, citing data from the Romanian border police.
A total of 19 men aged between 18 and 60 died while trying to cross into the neighboring country, said Florin Coman, the chief of the Romanian border police in the city of Sighetu Marmatiei.
Eleven of them reportedly drowned in the Tysa River, and the rest died while trying to cross the Carpathian Mountains without proper equipment.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, there have been multiple reports of men attempting to illegally flee Ukraine by swimming the Tysa River, which flows along the border with Hungary, Romania, and Moldova.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Francis Farrell
