"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.
"(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.
A shot from "Home Games," the first Ukrainian-directed documentary released on Netflix. The film follows Alina Shilova, whose passion for football gives her a chance of escaping poverty. (Courtesy)
Ukrainian documentary "Home Games" has joined the Netflix library on Dec. 23. Its director Alisa Kovalenko said this is the streaming giant's first documentary by a Ukrainian filmmaker.
“I hope it will be a milestone and that other great Ukrainian author-driven documentaries will be soon on Netflix as well,” she told the Kyiv Independent.
It is now available to watch "Home Games" in original Ukrainian and Russian languages with English subtitles in the European Union and the U.K. The film's team hopes Netflix users in Ukraine will be able to watch it starting in January. The exact date has not been announced.
The film follows Alina Shilova, a 20-year-old woman in Kyiv, whose passion for football gives her a chance of escaping poverty.
Shilova grew up on the streets in Kyiv and took up the sport while her parents were in jail. When her mother suddenly died at the age of 39 and her father disappeared, Shilova had to quickly adapt to the new role of being a substitute mother for her young siblings.
The 86-minute film was originally released in 2018. Its co-producers hail from Ukraine, France and Poland.
The documentary has received awards and nominations in international film festivals around the world, including goEast Film Festival and Odesa International Film Festival.
The Ukrainian state film agency provided Hr 850,000, or about half of the film's budget. The documentary also received funding under the Guardian Goes Ukraine contest, conceived by the British Council, the Guardian and the Docudays UA film festival.
Aside from "Home Games," Netflix streams the Ukrainian co-produced documentary "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom," which, was directed by Israeli Evgeny Afineevsky. The award-winning film portrays the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution in central Kyiv.
Earlier in the year, Netflix released the first feature film with Ukrainian dubbing, “Outside the Wire.” Though many films on the platform have Ukrainian subtitles, few have been dubbed into Ukrainian before.
Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues, front-line developments, and politics. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine.
