"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.
Elina Svitolina during Billie Jean King Cup tennis match Switzerland vs Ukraine in Radom Poland on 12 April 2025. (Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina won her first title in nearly two years on April 20 at the WTA 250 Open Capfinances Rouen Metropole.
Svitolina, a celebrated Ukrainian athlete originally from Odesa, was chosen as one of the Ukraine's two flag bearers at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Svitolina defeated Serbian tennis player Olga Danilova 6-4, 7-6(8) in a close match lasting one hour and 58 minutes at the Rouen final on April 20. The win marks Svitolina's18th WTA title overall and her first in nearly two years.
The Ukrainian athlete entered Rouen as the top-seeded player and did not lose a single set throughout the tournament.
Svitolina won her last title in May 2023, less than two months after returning from maternity leave. In that final, she defeated Russian opponent Anna Blinkova.
Beyond the tennis court, Svitolina serves as an ambassador for Bring Kids Back UA, President Volodymyr Zelensky's initiative to return Ukrainian children forcibly deported by Russia. She has also advocated for the expulsion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international sporting events.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
