"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.
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.
A North Korean POW captured by Ukrainian forces during hostilities in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Photo published on Jan. 11, 2025. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
Ukraine is prepared to send captured North Korean soldiers home if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is able to negotiate the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 12.
Alternatively, Kyiv is willing to explore other options for North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, he said.
Zelensky's remarks come a day after the president announced on Jan. 11 that Ukrainain forces had captured two North Korean POWs in Russia's Kursk Oblast. The wounded soldiers are in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and are reportedly receiving medical attention.
"In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be others," Zelensky said via his official Telegram channel on Jan. 12.
"It is only a matter of time before our guys manage to capture more."
Ukraine is prepared to return North Korean personnel in future prisoner exchanges or explore "other ways" of handling those captured soldiers who do not want to go back to North Korea, according to Zelensky.
"Ukraine is ready to hand over his people to Kim Jong Un if he can organize their exchange for our soldiers who are held captive in Russia," he said.
"For those North Korean soldiers who do not want to return, there may be some other ways. In particular, those Koreans who wish to bring peace closer by spreading the truth in Korean about this war will have this opportunity."
Zelensky posted video footage of the SBU's interrogation of the two POWs, mediated by Korean translators. In the video, one of the captured soldiers says he would like to return to North Korea, while the other answers that he wants to live in Ukraine.
Some 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed in Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion in August 2024. North Korean personnel have suffered high casualties while fighting alongside Russian forces, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Dec. 27 that some North Korean soldiers have reportedly taken their own lives rather than surrender to Ukrainian troops, out of fear their families will be targeted over their capture.
Zelensky said on Jan. 11 that the capture of the North Korean POWs was a difficult task to carry out, as Russian and North Korean forces go to greath lengths to suppress evidence of Pyongyang's involvement.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
