"(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.
Purported footage of a fire in Bryansk, Russia, on Dec. 11, 2024, following a Ukrainian attack. (Astra, open sources)
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
A Ukrainian missile struck a boiler plant in Russia's Rostov Oblast overnight on Dec. 11, damaging critical infrastructure in the city of Taganrog, local Russian officials claimed.
Separately, Ukrainian forces struck a Druzhba oil loading pipeline near the city of Bryansk, setting it on fire, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.
Yury Slyusar, the acting governor of Rostov Oblast, claimed that an overnight Ukrainian missile attack struck an "industrial facility" in Taganrog, damaging the facility as well as 14 cars in the parking lot.
Taganrog Mayor Svetlana Kambulova later reported that heating supply had been disrupted in 27 apartment buildings in the city following an attack on a boiler plant within the city.
Videos posted on social media capture a series of loud explosions in Taganrog around 3:30 a.m. local time. Taganrog lies on the Azov Sea coast, roughly 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the front line.
A "production facility" also caught fire in the city of Bryansk after Russian air defenses downed 14 drones over the region, Russian authorities claimed. Governor Alexander Bogomaz later said that the fire had been extinguished.
The NP Bryansk loading station of the Druzhba oil pipeline was targeted in a joint operation by the Unmanned Systems Forces and military intelligence, resulting in a massive fire, the Ukrainian military said.
The pipeline is used to "receive, store, and distribute diesel fuel for tankers and cargo trains" and is "actively used to supply Russian occupation forces," according to the General Staff.
Bryansk lies around 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Ukrainian border in Sumy Oblast.
The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify any of the Russian claims, and Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the alleged attack.
The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear, although Slyusar claimed that there were no casualties as a result of the alleged attack. No additional details were provided by Russian officials.
The alleged attack on Russian critical infrastructure comes as Russia continues to increase its onslaught of attacks against Ukrainian energy facilities, as it seeks to plunge the country into another harsh winter aimed at testing Ukrainians' resolve.
In the most recent mass aerial attack on the country on Nov. 28, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russia struck a "massive blow" to the nation's power grid.
Situated on the Russia-Ukraine border, Rostov Oblast has become a regular target of Ukrainian attack since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Sonya Bandouil
