Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"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.
Shoppers pay at the cash registers in a Zara store, that belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, during brand store reopening in the Respublika Park shopping mall on April 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukrainian citizens and businesses paid over 1 trillion hryvnias ($24 billion) in tax in 2024, the Finance Ministry reported on Dec. 31.
Corporate income tax amounted to Hr 270.8 billion ($6.5 billion), value added tax came to Hr 267.8 billion ($6.4 billion), personal income tax and military tax- a sum levied from citizens to support the war effort- was Hr 233.6 billion ($5.6 billion), excise tax was Hr 133.5 billion ($3.2 billion), and Hr 51.8 billion ($1.2 billion) was transferred to the state budget from rent.
This comes a month after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed off on a major tax increase bill on Nov. 28 in a bid to plug Ukraine’s budget deficit. The bill was expected to raise an additional Hr 8 billion ($190 million) this year and should bring in an extra Hr 141 billion ($3.4 billion) to the state budget next year, said lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak.
In total, Ukraine’s state budget received Hr 3.1 trillion ($74 billion), including Hr 600 billion ($14.3 billion) from the State Customs Service and Hr 453.6 billion ($10.8 billion) from international grants.
Looking towards 2025, Ukraine is bracing for a $35 billion budget deficit, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in August. Foreign partners are expected to cover roughly $20 billion, while the tax reforms hope to pick up a chunk of the remaining $15 billion funding at home.
The bill, which was delayed by more than a month, also increased military tax for citizens from 1.5% to 5% and made small businesses subject to the war tax.
Banks, which are witnessing record profits, saw their profit taxes increase to 50% for 2024. Taxes for other financial institutions will increase from 18% to 25% in January 2025.
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The Kyiv Independent news desk
