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.
A person walks in a street during a blackout following Russian attacks on a city's energy infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine on April 8, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images)
As Ukraine begins yet another winter with rolling blackouts and freezing temperatures, businesses are increasingly looking beyond diesel generators to fuel their operations during power cuts, business leaders said at the Energy Security Dialogue 2024 on Dec. 4.
Speaking at the conference in Kyiv organised by the DiXi Group think tank, CEO of Nova Energy Andrii Lytvynenko said the company is moving away from diesel generators and plans to equip around a thousand branches of the popular Nova Poshta postal chain with battery power supplies that allow for uninterrupted electricity during outages.
Around 400 branches already use these systems, he said.
Nova Energy is part of Nova Group, which owns Nova Poshta, Ukraine's leading postal service that transports around 2 million packages a day.
"The simplest, fastest solution is, of course, generators," Lytvynenko said. "Today, we have around 4,000 generators in the company."
However, the noise and carbon emissions — as well as the work needed to refuel and maintain them — led the company to look for alternative emergency power systems, Lytvynenko said.
Additionally, the company is investing in solar power and gas-piston plants that generate both electricity and heat.
"If we take energy independence, we have already invested more than 13 million dollars in this infrastructure, and we plan to invest in it further," Lytvynenko said.
A survey conducted this summer of more than 100 companies by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (AmCham) found that 87% of companies were ready for the winter blackouts.
"Nevertheless around 40% of companies that said that they have or are building plans and include other sources" alongside diesel generators, said Olena Boichenko, a partner at Deloitte in Ukraine, who worked with AmCham to conduct the survey.
"Ukraine now has such unique situations — of course, unfortunately, negatively unique — but there are also opportunities, to be such a testing ground of different sources and different strategies," Boichenko said.
Oleksandr Dombrovsky, deputy chairman of the board of MHP and president of MHP Eco Energy, said the agro-company is also focused on innovative energy technologies.
Although the company was focused on renewable energy technologies before the full-scale invasion, the war has given it new urgency to innovate.
MHP, one of the largest agro-companies in Europe, employs more than 30,000 workers and exports its products to dozens of countries. Since 2018, MHP Eco Energy has been an operator for the sale of electricity to the enterprises of MHP group.
"We started our path to energy independence, to energy security almost 10 years ago," Dombrovsky said. "This has led us to start attracting and investing in green technologies."
The company has more than ten solar-generation projects in the works, and estimates that the company has the potential for about 800 megawatts of solar generation.
"This year we installed 15 megawatts of solar generation on the roofs of poultry houses," Dombrovsky said.
"In addition, we have now completed the installation of almost 20 megawatts of cogeneration systems (producing energy and heat) that will operate in these conditions of war on natural gas, but in the future they will also be switched to biogas, projects with which we are working to this day," Dombrovsky said.
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Chris York
