"(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 entrance to the Russian city of Belgorod, some 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, on May 28, 2023. (Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian forces have advanced three to four kilometers into Russia’s Belgorod region, engaging in battles with Russian troops, according to Russian military bloggers and independent analysts.
Military expert Emil Kastehelmi of the Black Bird Group told Reuters Ukrainian troops had penetrated Russia’s first line of defense, though he noted that their ability to launch a major breakthrough remains unlikely.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Open-source intelligence suggests Kyiv's forces are still present in some parts of the region, though neither Ukraine nor Russia has officially confirmed the incursion.
Belgorod Oblast is regularly used by Russia to launch strikes against Ukrainian territory. At the same time, Belgorod region authorities have repeatedly accused Ukraine of launching attacks against the region and Belgorod city throughout the full-scale war.
The Ukrainian operation appears to be aimed at diverting Russian forces as Moscow intensifies efforts to push Kyiv’s troops out of Kursk, where Ukraine has maintained control of nearly 80 square kilometers since last August.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces had taken "certain steps" inside Russia outside of Kursk, though he did not provide details. He described the operation as an effort to "reduce the accumulation" of Russian forces threatening Ukrainian positions.
Reports from Russian military bloggers describe heavy fighting in the settlements of Popovka and Demidovka, with both sides deploying drones and artillery. The Rybar Telegram channel claimed Russian forces had moved reinforcements from Goptarovka in Kursk to Belgorod, reinforcing defensive positions.
In Kursk, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its forces had recaptured the village of Gogolevka, one of the last settlements Ukraine controlled after its offensive last year.
However, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that its forces had repelled 18 Russian attacks in the region over the past day. Open-source analysis from Deep State, a Ukrainian military blog, indicated that Ukraine still holds some territory in Gogolevka and has not been fully pushed out of the region.
Belgorod Oblast is located in western Russia and borders Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts in the south and west.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Andrea Januta
