"We agreed that a full and unconditional ceasefire must begin on Monday, May 12, for at least 30 days. We jointly demand this from Russia, and we know we are supported in this by the United States," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian media outlet ZN.UA reported on May 10 that their law enforcement sources confirmed an ongoing probe by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau into suspected embezzlement, money laundering and bribery.
Iran is preparing to send Russia Fath-360 short-range ballistic missile launchers, Reuters reported on May 9, citing Western security and regional officials familiar with the matter.
"Ukraine and all allies are ready for a complete unconditional ceasefire on land, in the air, and at sea for at least 30 days, starting as early as Monday," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged in private that Russia is difficult to negotiate with because they "want the whole thing," referring to Ukraine, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar with the comments.
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.
Illustrative purposes only: The YouTube play icon is being displayed on a smartphone, with YouTube in the background, in this photo illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on July 24, 2024. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Users across Russia reported problems on Aug. 1 with accessing YouTube's website and watching videos, according to the DownDetector and Downradar monitoring sites.
The news comes days after a Russian lawmaker warned that the government would deliberately slow down YouTube loading speeds in response to Google's refusal to comply with Russian authorities' demands.
According to DownDetector, the large-scale outages began shortly after midnight, when over 400 complaints were recorded in a sudden spike. The number dropped to roughly 200 complaints at around 9 a.m. local time.
The largest number of problems were reported in Moscow Oblast, but users also experienced issues in western regions like Leningrad Oblast or Krasnodar Krai or in the far-eastern reaches of the country, like Vladivostok.
At the moment, it remains unclear whether the problems stemmed from a technical malfunction or intentional interference.
Problems with YouTube were noted in some other countries, like the U.K. or the U.S., throughout the day on July 31, though not in such high numbers and before the outbreak of outages in Russia.
Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said on July 25 that the Russian authorities would throttle the video service's speed by up to 70% by the end of next week.
Russia's crackdown on freedom of speech, particularly regarding information that contradicts its narratives about the full-scale war, has intensified since 2022.
On July 12, Russian pro-state outlet Gazeta.ru reported that the Russian government plans to block YouTube entirely in September, although the Kremlin denied this claim.
Earlier in July, YouTube blocked accounts of several Russian artists who found themselves on the EU sanctions list over their support for Moscow's war effort, such as Yaroslav Dronov (Shaman), Polina Gagarina, or Grigory Leps.
Martin Fornusek
