"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.
Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant photographed on Aug. 31. (Photo credit should read Volodymyr Tarasov / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ukraine's parliament voted in favor of buying two Russian-made reactors from Bulgaria for the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Feb. 11.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the lawmakers last week to approve the project, calling it a "key to energy independence."
Bulgaria has offered to sell its unused 15-year-old VVER-1000 reactors and other equipment for units 3 and 4 of the western Ukrainian nuclear power plant as Ukraine faces regular Russian attacks against its energy grid.
Some lawmakers have criticized the deal, arguing that the reactors are obsolete and expensive. The parliament has long struggled to pass the law, prompting Bulgaria to extend the deadline for concluding the deal until March.
The price of the two reactors was set at $600 million, said lawmaker Andrii Zhupanyn.
Nuclear power is key in sustaining Ukraine's energy grid, covering more than half of the country's electricity consumption. Russian missile and drone attacks have dealt devastating damage to Ukraine's thermal and hydroelectric generating capacity, necessitating regular emergency shutdowns.
The Khmelnytskyi plant, one of the three remaining operational nuclear stations in Ukraine-held territories, is being expanded to offset the loss of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, currently under Russian occupation.
The news comes as Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, who has advocated for purchasing Russian-made reactors, is under mounting political pressure. Opposition lawmakers accused the minister of "systemic corruption in the energy sector," "failure to protect parts of the energy infrastructure," and "lies and manipulations" and called for his dismissal.
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.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
