"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: Rail wagons for oil, fuel, and liquefied gas cargo stand in sidings at Yanichkino railway station, close to the Gazprom Neft PJSC Moscow refinery in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, April 27, 2020. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Ukrainian forces successfully attacked the Moscow Oil Refinery and a Druzhba oil pipeline facility in Oryol Oblast overnight on March 11, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.
The statement comes after Russia claimed to have downed over 330 Ukrainian drones in the Moscow, Oryol, and eight other oblasts in a massive drone strike.
The operation "struck a number of Russian strategic objects, enabling armed aggression against Ukraine," the military said. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted industrial and military facilities in Russia's rear to undermine Moscow's ability to wage its war.
Multiple hits were recorded at the Moscow Oil Refinery, which is capable of processing 11 million metric tons of oil per year and covers 40-50% of Moscow's gasoline and diesel supplies, according to the statement.
Explosions were also reported at the Stalnoy Kon fuel facility in Oryol Oblast. This facility is a key part of the Druzhba oil pipeline infrastructure and ensures oil supplies to the Ust-Luga port in Leningrad Oblast.
The facility lies around 170 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its forces had intercepted a massive strike of 337 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions, including 91 over Moscow Oblast, 126 over Kursk Oblast, 38 over Bryansk Oblast, eight over Oryol Oblast, and others over the Belgorod, Ryazan, Kaluga, Lipetsk, Voronezh, and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
This would mark Ukraine's most extensive drone strike against Moscow and Russia throughout the full-scale war.
Russian officials did not report hits against any strategic targets but claimed that civilian sites were damaged across Moscow Oblast. Three people were allegedly killed by drone debris, while 18 were wounded, Moscow claims.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
The Ukrainian military said it has "detailed information about the strategic facilities" enabling Russian aggression and "adheres to the norms of international humanitarian law and takes measures to protect the civilian population as much as possible."
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.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn
