"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 stone-made sign ‘Kurakhove’ on Sept. 13, 2024, in Kurakhove, Ukraine. (Yevhenii Vasyliev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukrainian forces continue to hold positions in the western outskirts of Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast and a local power plant, but the situation in the town is "difficult," a military spokesperson said on Jan. 7.
"The situation in Kurakhove is really quite difficult right now, because a significant part of the city has been destroyed," Khortytsia group of forces spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said on national television on Jan. 7, only a day after Russia claimed to have full control over the town.
Kurakhove has become one of the focal points of the Russian offensive in Donetsk Oblast over the past few months, turning the town into one of the hottest sectors of the front.
The town lies over 20 kilometers (over 10 miles) north of Russian-occupied Vuhledar and over 30 kilometers (almost 20 miles) south of the key front-line town of Pokrovsk.
"Ukrainian troops are holding on the western part of the town, its western outskirts. They are also holding onto a power plant located in the town," Trehubov added. According to the spokesperson, Russian forces are attempting to raze Kurakhove building by building, destroying any potential defenses for Ukrainian soldiers.
This method mirrors Russian tactics used in other front-line towns like Toretsk, where there are reportedly "no intact buildings left" after Moscow's onslaught.
In its Jan. 7 report, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported fending off 26 Russian assaults in the Kurakhove sector, including in the area of the town itself.
The DeepState monitoring group shows Kurakhove almost completely in Russian hands, save for small areas in the west.
If taken, Kurakhove would be the first significant town to fall into Russian hands in 2025 after Russia took Avdiivka and Vuhledar last year. Moscow's troops now focus their efforts at Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub, as part of their overall goal to capture the entire Donetsk Oblast.
The estimated Russian advance in the Kurakhove sector of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, as of Jan. 6, 2025, according to the DeepState monitoring group. (DeepState/OpenStreetMaps)
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.
Martin Fornusek
