"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 part of destroyed Su-25 Russian military aircraft is displayed at the National Museum of Military History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 8, 2022. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The anti-aircraft gunners of Ukraine’s 110th Mechanized Brigade have shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft in Donetsk Oblast, making it the fourth downed jet within two weeks, the brigade said on May 18 in a Facebook post.
The Soviet-designed Su-25, nicknamed “Frogfoot” by NATO, is a heavily armored ground-attack aircraft that provides close air support for Russian ground troops. The aircraft helps Russia carry out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, which covers much of Donetsk Oblast.
“Now, its remains are smoldering in one of the forests in Donetsk Oblast,” the 110th Brigade said.
The unit did not specify the exact place where the aircraft was downed, but the brigade is based near Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.
The brigade also said that three other Su-25s were downed on May 4, May 11, and May 13.
Russia has lost 354 aircraft since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's General Staff said on the morning of May 18. These figure could not be independently verified.
Alexander Khrebet is a reporter with the Kyiv Independent. He covers Ukraine’s foreign policy, alleged abuse of power in the country’s military leadership, and reports on the Russian-occupied territories. Alexander is the European Press Prize 2023 winner, the #AllForJan Award 2023 winner and Ukraine's 2022 National Investigative Journalism Award finalist. His was published in the Washington Times and Atlantic Council.
Alexander Khrebet
