Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"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.
Photo for illustrative purposes. A group of Russian soldiers, captured during the Russia-Ukraine war, stand at prison in Western Ukraine, on 18 April 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukraine’s Azov Brigade captured 23 Russian soldiers during combat operations in the Toretsk area of Donetsk Oblast, the National Guard of Ukraine reported on Jan. 15.
According to the statement, some Russian troops surrendered willingly, while others were found hiding in basements or captured during assaults. The captives, taken into custody by the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov, are reportedly in satisfactory condition.
📍Торецький напрямок 🇺🇦
Воїни 12 бригади Нацгвардії «Азов» взяли у полон одразу 23 (!) загарбника-невдахи і змонтували невеличке «мотиваційне» відео для країни-агресора.
Цікаво, що багато російських полонених виглядають до полону так, як наші герої — після 🤔
The National Guard confirmed that the prisoners would be transferred to the relevant authorities. "We hope they will soon be exchanged for Ukrainian defenders held in captivity," it said.
The returning Ukrainian POWs were captured during the defense of Mariupol and its Azovstal steel plant, as well as during the defense of other key areas of the front line in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Daria Shulzhenko
