"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.
A group of Ukrainian soldiers with the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade "Edelveys" prepares to open fire on the movement seen in the morning fog on the first line of defense near the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut on Oct. 25, 2023. (Kostya Liberov/Libkos via Getty Images)
Russian troops made unsuccessful attempts to regain lost positions near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Donetsk Oblast's Andriivka, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Oct. 30.
Ukraine liberated Robotyne in August and Andriivka in September.
In both regions, Ukrainian forces continue offensive operations south of Bakhmut and toward the key city of Melitopol as part of their five-month-long counteroffensive, the General Staff wrote.
Over the past day, the Ukrainian military reportedly repelled Russian attacks around Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast and in multiple settlements near Lyman, Avdiivka, Marinka, and Shakhtarske in Donetsk Oblast.
Russia has been intensifying its attacks against Avdiivka, a front-line town a few kilometers north of occupied Donetsk, for several weeks.
Moscow has reportedly thrown in extensive force in an effort to encircle the town, suffering heavy losses in manpower and equipment in the process.
Russia has likely committed parts of at least eight brigades in the fight to capture Avdiivka, and the forces operating there have probably suffered some of Russia's worst casualty rates in 2023, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Oct. 28.
Avdiivka has stood on the front lines since the very start of Russia's war in 2014, but the new Russian offensive occurred after months of a comparatively static siege.
Francis Farrell
