The Kyiv Independent news desk

Key developments on May 9-10: * Putin says he believes war in Ukraine almost over * 'Victory will be ours,' Putin tells Victory Day parade without any tanks * Russia breaks 3-day ceasefire as strikes kill 1, injure 19 across Ukraine * Kremlin says it expects US envoys Witkoff, Kushner, 'quite soon' Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 9 that he believes the full-scale war in Ukraine will be over soon. "I think the (war in Ukraine) is coming to an end," he told journalists at a Kre

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that "if the president of Ukraine is interested in a meeting, he should contact his Russian counterpart by phone."

Russia has lost around 1,341,110 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on May 10.

The number includes 1,080 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

The declaration makes no mention of a ceasefire on attacks elsewhere in Russia.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed that Ukraine's military launched dozens of drones towards the Russian capital throughout the night on May 8, just one day before Moscow is set to stage its annual Victory Day military parade.

Rustem Umerov said he and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner discussed humanitarian issues, prisoner exchanges between Kyiv and Moscow, and peace efforts.

The figure includes 1,130 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Key developments on May 7: * Ukraine condemns 'alarming situation' in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, civilians trapped in urgent need of aid * Ukraine to respond to Russia's ceasefire violations with 'long-range sanctions,' Zelensky says * 'Emergency situation' — Ukrainian firefighters unable to extinguish massive forest fire due to Russian FPV drone threat * Latvia says drones entered airspace from Russia, 1 may have crashed near oil facility Ukraine's Foreign Ministry issued

"(Russia) wants permission from Ukraine to hold their parade, so they can safely march onto the square for one hour once a year, and then go back to killing our people and waging war again," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Kyiv rejected Russia's Victory Day truce after Moscow violated Ukraine's ceasefire 1,820 times and Russian attacks killed 26 civilians nationwide.

"This decision by the authorities is based on security considerations," Crimea's head of Russian occupation authorities, Sergey Aksyonov, said.

The figure includes 1,050 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Key developments on May 5: * Russia's Kirishi oil refinery stops production after drone strikes * European Commission opens call for proposals to join EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance * Russian fiber-optic FPV drones reach Kramatorsk, Ukraine's Donbas stronghold * EU votes in support of Nuremberg-style tribunal for Russia. Ukrainian Flamingo missiles struck a Russian military production facility in Cheboksary overnight on May 5, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as part of a large-scale missile

The figure includes 970 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.