"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.
The first General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons received by Ukraine fly on Ukraine's Air Force Day on Aug. 4, 2024 in an unspecified location in Ukraine. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
For the first time in the history of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, a Ukrainian-operated jet shot down six Russian cruise missiles during a single mission in December, including two with the aircraft cannon, the Air Force claimed on Jan. 7.
The interception reportedly took place during a mass Russian aerial strike on the morning of Dec. 13, 2024, which saw Russia deploy almost 200 drones and 94 missiles.
"For the first time in the history of the Fighting Falcon, an F-16 fighter jet destroyed six Russian cruise missiles in one combat mission," the Air Force Command said on social media.
Ukraine has received a number of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands and Denmark, deploying them multiple times in air defense roles during Russian mass strikes on cities and infrastructure.
"They say that even Americans couldn't believe you did it," Air Force Command spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said in an interview with the pilot, whose identity was not revealed.
An undated photo of a Ukrainian pilot. (Air Force Command)
The aviator said that he approached a group of cruise missiles and, despite their electronic warfare countermeasures, managed to lock on to targets. The F-16 reportedly shot down one pair of Russian projectiles with medium-range missiles and then another pair with short-range missiles.
Ukrainian F-16s are equipped with four air-to-air medium-range and short-range missiles.
Without missiles and low on fuel, the pilot was then recalled from the area but spotted another missile heading toward Kyiv. He moved to intercept it and opened fire from his aircraft cannon against the projectile, which was flying over 650 kilometers per hour, a difficult and risky maneuver, the Air Force said.
"A few bursts from the cannon — and an explosion... then another one! 'A secondary detonation,' I thought, but, as it turned out, there were two missiles," the pilot said, adding he did everything as taught by U.S. instructors.
According to the Air Force Command, Ukrainian pilots have learned how to shoot down missiles with aircraft cannons in simulators in the U.S. but have never attempted it during actual combat before.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon entered into service in late 1978, and its various versions have been used by over two dozen countries, including the U.S. and its European allies. More than 4,600 F-16s have been built, and the platform has been deployed in multiple conflicts worldwide.
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.
Martin Fornusek
