"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.
A Russian flag flies above a barricades in an unknown location. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Ukrainian deep-strike drones hit Russian fiber-optic and explosives factories on the night of April 4.
The strikes targeted factories in Samara and Mordovia oblasts. A source with the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that they were behind at least the strikes in Samara Oblast.
"SBU strike drones attacked 'Promsintez' in Chapayevsk, in Samara Oblast. The factory is one of the leading manufacturers of explosives in the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States," writes a source in the SBU, who said their drones hit the factory 20 times. "As a result, the leadership of the factory have stopped their technological processes."
Footage from local media show attacks on Saransk in Moravia Oblast the same night. One local source identified the building hit as a factory belonging to a company called "Fiber Optic Systems."
Russian investigative outlet Insider identifies Fiber Optic Systems as the main producer of optical fiber in Russia. Fiber-optic drones are resistant to electronic warfare interference. Russia's mass production of such drones has greatly enhanced the offensive power of the Russian military, most notably in their recent recapture of territory in Kursk Oblast.
Insider similarly identified Fiber Optic Systems as a remarkably effective link in the chain providing Russia with foreign-derived components for its war machine.
The governors of both oblasts announced no casualties as a result of the strikes.
Of the Promsintez strike, the SBU source said in a statement, "the SBU is continuing to work precisely through Russian businesses, that are part of the military-industrial complex and produce weapons for the war against Ukraine. Such objects are absolutely legal military targets."
Ukraine has invested heavily in its long-range strike drone programs, as well as more traditional missiles, in an effort to reach Russian infrastructure far from the front.
Russia, meanwhile, uses its much larger arsenal of ballistic missiles to strike civilian targets throughout Ukraine. One such strike hit a playground in Kryvyi Rih earlier today, killing 19, including 9 children.
We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.
Asami Terajima
