"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.
Russia Tu-22M and Tupolev Tu-160 take part in a rehearsal for 2020 Victory Day parade on Moscow's Tverskaya Street in Moscow, Russia, on June 20, 2020. (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukrainian forces hit the Olenya military airfield inRussia's Murmansk Oblast, damaging a Tu-22M3 bomber, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) spokesperson, Andrii Yusov, confirmed on July 29 on national television.
Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian airfields of Olenya in Murmansk Oblast, Engels in Saratov Oblast, and Diagilevo in Ryazan Oblast overnight on July 27. Ukraine also struck an oil refinery in the latter of the three oblasts.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 12 kamikaze drones in five regions, including Kursk, Belgorod, Rostov, Bryansk, and Lipetsk, on July 27.
The damage dealt to aircraft such as the Tu-22M3 bomber is vital because the Russian military-industrial sector currently does not have the means to produce such equipment, according to Yusov.
"This is something that the Soviet Union could produce, and that is why they (Russian forces) are trying to hide them so far away," Yusov said.
The Olenya airfield, where the Tu-22M3 was hit, is located about 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
While Ukraine does not havepermission to fire Western-made long-range weapons deep inside Russian territory, the embattled country frequently uses domestically-produced drones for these attacks.
Earlier on July 23, Russia claimed to have downed 21 drones in occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
Ukraine's drone operations often target oil refineries and airfields, aiming to reduce Russia's oil process capabilities and hinder its economy, as well as target Russian aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities.
Chris York
