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.
Photo for illustrative purpose. Tupolev Tu-22M3R bomber landing at Kubinka air force base in Moscow Oblast, Russia, on May 18, 2015. (Artyom Anikeev/Getty Images)
A Ukrainian drone destroyed a landed Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bomber a "few days ago," Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview with the LB.UA outlet published on April 9.
"A few days ago, our successful operations destroyed a Tu-22M3 bomber plane. Just as it landed, it was hit by our drone," Syrskyi said in the interview when discussing the impact of Ukraine's long-range drone strikes.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claim.
The Tu-22M3, a supersonic bomber developed by the Soviet Union worth around $100 million, remains a key component of Russia's Air Force and has been used in strikes against Ukraine.
The commander-in-chief did not specify the exact location or date of the strike, and Kyiv and Moscow did not report any Russian fixed-wing aircraft as destroyed in hostilities this month. The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces had destroyed 370 Russian warplanes as of April 9.
Russian authorities said on April 2 that a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Siberian Irkutsk region due to an alleged technical malfunction. The pilot was killed in the crash, while four other crew members were forced to eject.
Irkutsk Oblast lies almost 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) from the border with Ukraine, far beyond the range of any known Ukrainian long-range weaponry.
Last year, Ukrainian forces shot down a Tu-22M3 bomber, bringing it down in Stavropol Krai. Other aircraft of the same model were damaged in July 2024 attacks against the Olenya airfield in Russia's Murmansk Oblast
Tim Zadorozhnyy
