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.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes. A Su-34 in the sky over Kubinka airfield on Aug. 29, 2020. (Mihail Tokmakov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter jet over Russia's Kursk Oblast overnight on Aug. 14 amid Kyiv's incursion into the region, Ukraine's General Staff reported.
Ukraine's unprecedented operation, ongoing since last week, seems to have taken Russia by surprise, as Kyiv says its forces seized control of 74 settlements and over 1,000 square kilometers of land after they broke through the weakly defended border.
Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile forces destroyed another Russian Su-34 during a combat mission, according to the military. The Kyiv Independent could not verify this claim.
A first-person-view (FPV) drone operated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) hit a Russian military helicopter in mid-air in Kursk Oblast, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 9.
Another Russian helicopter, Mi-28, was reportedly hit by an FPV drone in Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6 in what some called the first such successful attack in history.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, said on Aug. 13 that the incursion aims to prevent Moscow from sending reinforcements to the front in Donetsk Oblast.
It is also designed to disrupt Russian logistics and halt cross-border attacks in lieu of Ukraine's long-range strikes with Western arms, which remain under unofficial restrictions from partners.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing undisclosed U.S. officials, that Moscow is withdrawing at least some of its forces from Ukraine to counter Kyiv's incursion in Russia's Kursk Oblast.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Oleg Sukhov
