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.
Former Head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov during a court hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 6, 2017. (Danil Shamkin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Military Law Enforcement Service canceled on April 10 an order to draft Roman Nasirov, the former head of the State Fiscal Service who is accused of taking hefty bribes, days after he was mobilized.
The move came after Transparency International Ukraine reported on April 9 that Nasirov had been "voluntarily" mobilized into Ukraine's Armed Forces amid the court proceedings, with Nasirov's lawyer asking to suspend the case.
In 2023, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau concluded that Nasirov, during his tenure as the head of the service from 2015 to 2016, had received $5.5 million for granting Hr 540 million ($13 million) in fraudulent value-added tax (VAT) refunds to an agricultural holding company in 2015.
Later in 2016, he allegedly received another 21 million euros ($23 million) for granting Hr 2.7 billion ($65 million) in illegal VAT refunds.
Ukrainian businessman Oleh Bakhmatyuk, owner of the agricultural holding Ukrlandfarming, was arrested in absentia on March 7, 2023, on charges of allegedly giving bribes to Nasirov and his adviser.
The bribe was estimated at around Hr 722 million ($19.3 million) and was intended to secure VAT reimbursement for entities under Bakhmatyuk's control, according to Ukraine’s Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
Nasirov was first arrested in March 2017, when he was still in office at the tax service. He was then suspected of embezzling Hr 2 billion ($49.8 million) with the controversial businessman and lawmaker Oleksandr Onyshchenko.
Nasirov has denied all wrongdoing. In May last year, he was released from custody on bail of Hr 55 million (around $1.4 million).
"Zero tolerance for corruption is being established within the Armed Forces. Therefore, any steps aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian army will be dealt with severely," Ukraine's military said.
According to the statement, Nasirov was mobilized on April 7 at the order of the commander of the military unit A0139 of Ukraine's 101st Guard Brigade of General Staff, subordinated to the Main Command Center of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Nasirov was supposed to join the army as a sapper, Ukrinform reported on April 9, citing an obtained document.
Soon after, the brigade commander labeled the order unlawful and canceled it. An internal investigation was launched on the grounds of possible abuse of power, the statement read.
Martin Fornusek
