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.
The visit marks Merz’s first trip to Ukraine, and the first time all four leaders have travelled there together.
"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."
The number includes 1,310 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
"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.
The sanctions list includes 58 individuals and 74 companies, with 67 Russian enterprises related to military technology.
Media: Zaporizhzhia reconstruction marked by overblown prices, non-transparent tenders

Zaporizhzhia city authorities allegedly commissioned the reconstruction of buildings damaged in Russian attacks at overblown prices, and after non-transparent tenders, an investigation by Hromadske published on Oct. 26 said.
Over 500 houses were damaged in Russian strikes on the city, and eight high-rise buildings suffered especially severe damage. The city authorities reportedly allocated Hr 350 million ($10 million) for the reconstruction work in 2023, while the state added an additional 815 million (over $20 million).
As a result, one year's budget for the city's restoration amounted to over Hr 1 billion (around $30 million), Hromadske said.
The news outlet drew attention to a number of violations and suspicious steps in the reconstruction process. Some companies won their contracts without a proper tender, building materials were procured at a higher-than-market value, and some of the firms had connections to former local officials or other politicians, Hromadske said.
For example, the restoration of one building on Sobornyi Avenue in the city's center reportedly cost around Hr 330 million (over $9 million). The journalists said that the cost of restoring a damaged flat in the building – $300,000 – turned out to be much higher than the average price of buying a new one.
Mykola Bielyi, the city's local deputy quoted by Hromadske, noted that it is possible to buy "over 150 apartments on Zaporizhzhia's secondary market" for $4 million. That is less than half of the sum spent on the one building on Sobornyi Avenue, where, as Bielyi said, only 24 apartments were damaged.
Zaporizhzhia Acting Mayor Anatolii Kurtiev told Hromadske that it is misleading to count the prices by a single apartment: "I am telling you again, this is a complete housing complex... Renovating a building is generally more costly than a new building."
The city of Zaporizhzhia, lying only around 40 kilometers north of the front line, often suffers destructive and deadly attacks by Russian forces.

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