Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"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.
Artists showcase aerial hoop performance at the Zaporizhzhia State Circus, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Feb. 11, 2024. (Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Culture Ministry has recognized a number of TV channels, circuses, and other cultural institutions as "critically important" companies during wartime, allowing some of their employees to defer military service, according to decrees published on the ministry's website.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently approved laws to lower the minimum age of compulsory military service from 27 to 25, allowing younger men to be mobilized, create the online register for conscripts, and cancel the "partially eligible" status in the military medical examinations.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Culture Ministry has issued decrees designating dozens of media companies and TV channels, including those participating in Ukraine's TV marathon, "as critically important for the functioning of the economy and ensuring the livelihood of the population in a special period."
This status has also been given to the Directorate of Mobile Circus Teams, the State Circus Company, as well as several circuses, theaters, operas and other cultural institutions across Ukraine.
Current rules in Ukraine allow the deferment of military service to 50% or more of the employees of "critically important" companies.
As of February, 143 Ukrainian enterprises, institutions and organizations in the field of culture and information policy were recognized as "critically important," according to Ukrainian media outlet Interfax-Ukraine.
Francis Farrell
