"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 repair drones in a laboratory at an undetermined location in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Nov. 24, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukrainian manufacturers have the capacity to produce over 5 million first-person-view (FPV) drones per year, presidential advisor Alexander Kamyshin said in an interview with Radio Khartia published on March 28.
Both Ukraine and Russia have increasingly relied on drone warfare, using aerial, naval, and ground-based drones for reconnaissance and combat missions.
"Now, one manufacturer can produce 4,000 such FPV drones per day," said Kamyshin, who previously served as the strategic industries minister.
"And that is just one manufacturer. There are more than 150 manufacturers in our country. Our capacity is to produce over 5 million FPV units per year."
Kamyshin said the lack of funding prevents Ukraine from producing drones at its full capacity. Last year, only 2 million drones were produced, he noted.
Kyiv's drone fleet is being reinforced by the international drone coalition, which recently allocated 20 million euros ($21.6 million) to procure tactical-level reconnaissance drones that will be delivered to Ukraine within three months.
Ukraine plans to purchase 4.5 million FPV drones this year as part of a large-scale effort to equip its military with advanced technologies, the Defense Ministry announced earlier this month.
Kyiv has also developed missile-drone hybrids, such as the Palianytsia and Peklo models, which feature turbojet engines as cost-effective alternatives to cruise missiles. President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered the production of at least 30,000 long-range drones in 2025.
Alex Cadier
