"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.
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.
Illustrative photo of President Volodymyr Zelensky signing a document in his office in Kyiv. (Volodymyr Zelensky / Telegram)
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill on Jan. 7 strengthening the process for the formation and designation of groups and organizations to Ukraine's terror list.
The law, which formally assigns responsibility to Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) to maintain a list of terrorist organizations, is set to better define and name organizations that pose a threat to the country's national security. Ahead of the legislation, a designated terror list was managed informally through the country's national security institutions.
The bill formally defines mechanism for a group's inclusion into the list and will name terrorist networks that operate both within Ukraine and abroad — regardless of whether they're a registered legal entity in Ukraine.
The list will be administered by the SBU's Anti-Terrorism Center and will be publicly accessible through the government's website.
The law mandates that political parties, regardless of their activities, not be included on the terror list.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine, along with a number of Western countries and institutions designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
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.
Kateryna Denisova
