"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.
Two Ukrainians freed from Russian captivity who returned to Ukraine on Dec. 30, 2024. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
Ukraine managed to bring back 189 Ukrainians from Russian captivity, including military service members and two civilians, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Dec. 30.
The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) called it one of the largest prisoner exchanges since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
"We are working to free each and every one from Russian captivity. This is our goal. We do not forget anyone," Zelensky said on Telegram.
The freed captives included soldiers who defended Azovstal and Mariupol, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the Snake Island, and other sections of the front.
Eighty-seven Armed Forces service members, 43 National Guard members, 33 border guards, and 24 sailors were among those released, according to the headquarters. Azov fighters were also freed during the latest exchange, Zelensky said.
Among the released were two journalists-turned-soldiers: Mariupol journalist Oleksandr Hudilin and former journalist of the Espreso channel Roman Borshch.
Ukrainians freed from Russian captivity who returned to Ukraine on Dec. 30, 2024. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
Ukrainians freed from Russian captivity who returned to Ukraine on Dec. 30, 2024. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
Ukrainians freed from Russian captivity who returned to Ukraine on Dec. 30, 2024. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
Ukrainians freed from Russian captivity who returned to Ukraine on Dec. 30, 2024. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
As of Dec. 30, Ukraine freed 3,956 people from Russian captivity since the start of the full-scale war, including 1,358 who were released this year. Some of the freed captives have been held by Russia for more than two and half years and suffer chronic diseases and injuries, the headquarters said.
At the same time, 150 Russian military service members were released from Ukrainian captivity as part of the exchange, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The United Arab Emirates helped mediate the prisoner swap, according to Moscow.
Ukraine and Russia held numerous prisoner exchanges throughout the full-scale war with the mediation of a third-party country. The previous swap occurred in mid-October, with each side bringing back 95 prisoners.
Earlier in December, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed that he approached Ukraine and Russia with an offer of a Christmas truce and a prisoner exchange, a proposition he said Kyiv rejected.
Ukraine's Presidential Office responded that a major prisoner swap by the end of the year was being discussed but denied any contact between Kyiv and Budapest on the matter.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
