"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.
Illustrative purposes only: Relatives and friends of Ukrainian soldiers missing in action against Russian troops, specifically in the direction of Bakhmut, hold portraits and placards during a rally calling for actions from the authorities to find them, at Independence Square on April 13, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (hurricanehank/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine lists 42,000 citizens in its unified register for persons missing under special circumstances, an Interior Ministry official said, Ukrinform reported on July 17.
The register collects data on people who have disappeared due to war, occupation, or natural and man-made disasters.
The figure underscores the humanitarian impact of Russia's full-scale war, which is accompanied by deportations, kidnappings, and a large number of deaths among both the military and civilians in Ukraine.
"Overall, the register has collected information on 51,000 persons missing under special circumstances since its launch" in May 2023, said Dmytro Bohatiuk, the head of the Interior Ministry's missing persons department, adding that 42,000 are listed in the register at the present time.
The latest figure is a considerable growth since April, when Ukraine's Chief Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, revealed that almost 37,000 Ukrainians are considered missing.
The ministry also possesses data on 7,000 people whose whereabouts have already been established, including 3,000 former prisoners of war who are alive and well and 4,000 killed people, mainly soldiers, Bohatiuk said.
Ukraine reports on the number of people in Russia's captivity only sporadically. Authorities said last November that 2,384 soldiers and civilians remained in Russian hands, though several prisoner exchanges have taken place since then.
This number does not include Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia, Belarus, or occupied territories, whose numbers exceed 19,500.
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.
