A notice about the airspace closure was published on the U.S. Defense Department's NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) website on May 10, as cited by Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi.
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.
Ukrainian soldiers practice operating a mortar on the Donbas frontline as military mobility continues amid Russia's war against Ukraine on January 19, 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The United States is ready to take over the training of new Ukrainian soldiers and provide them with the necessary weapons if Ukraine changes its mobilization policy, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a meeting with journalists on Dec. 9.
"We have had conversations with the government of Ukraine about the security situation it faces in the East," Miller said.
"Ultimately, the decisions about the composition of its military force are those are decisions that the Ukrainians have to make for themselves. What we have made clear is that if they produce additional forces to join the fight, we and our allies will be ready to equip those forces and train those forces to enter battle."
His comments come as part of a broader wave of statements from senior U.S. officials amid reports that Western allies are urging Ukraine to reduce its minimum mobilization age from 25 to 18 in order to replenish its military forces.
Earlier on Dec. 4, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Ukraine faces "hard decisions" regarding further mobilization in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
"These are necessary decisions," Blinken noted during a press conference in Brussels. He emphasized that mobilization is critical for Ukraine, adding that while the country has the necessary funds and ammunition, it also requires more people to effectively repel Russian aggression.
Blinken also reiterated that every soldier that Ukraine mobilizes would have "the training and the equipment they need to effectively defend the country."
President Volodymyr Zelensky has so far refuted Washington's appeals. According to the president, partners have only provided enough aid to fully equip 2.5 out of the 10 Ukrainian brigades that Ukraine had requested support for.
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.
Natalia Yermak
