U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced on May 8 to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), this marks the first time Ukrainian authorities have exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network conducting activities harmful to Ukraine.
George Simion, leader of Romania's far-right AUR party, who won the first round of the presidential election with nearly 40% of the vote, reiterated that if elected, he would oppose any further assistance to Ukraine and shift Romania’s focus inward.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed their countries' relationship on May 8, vowing to increase cooperation in all areas, including military ties.
"There is Turkey, which maintains channels of communication. And then, above all, there is the People's Republic of China, which, more than anyone else, has the means to make (Russian President Vladimir) Putin come to the negotiating table and soften his demands," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on May 8.
The United States will be ready to "walk away" from the negotiating table if it does not see Russia making progress in negotiation to end the war, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on May 8.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived in Moscow on May 9 to celebrate Victory Day, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
US President Donald Trump on May 8 called for a "30-day unconditional ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia. Writing on Truth Social, Trump expressed his hope for "an acceptable ceasefire," with both countries "held accountable for respecting the sanctity of... direct negotiations."
President Volodymyr Zelensky had a "constructive" phone call with United States President Donald Trump on May 8, discussing the war, continued pressure on Russia, and a potential ceasefire.
The survey, conducted between April 24 and May 4, shows that 56.9% of respondents would not be willing to compromise on either territorial integrity or Ukraine’s pro-Western direction in any potential talks with Moscow.
Despite the Kremlin’s announcement of a May 8–11 truce, heavy fighting continued in multiple regions throughout the day.
Russia is continuing to burn through its strategic missile stockpile, and now firing more and more new missiles, with some produced as late as August, according to Vadym Skibitsky, a representative of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate. Skibitsky said such assessment suggests that some missiles are being used "directly from the assembly line."
Skibitsky said that for now Russia had enough reserves to continue to bombard Ukraine but was negotiating to receive missiles from other nations, including Iran. The Intelligence Directorate hasn't recorded any such delivery so far.
According to Skibitsky, Russia's capacity to sustain mass missile attacks in the long depends heavily on domestic production. On the surface, Western sanctions aim to limit Russian access to the necessary high-tech microchip equipment to guide its missiles, but Russia has nonetheless found some success in circumventing the restrictions, as the newly produced missiles prove.
Russia is understood to be running low on its stocks of high-precision long-distance missiles, according to the data published by Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Nov. 22, before the latest mass missile strike attack on Ukraine on Nov. 23.
Before the attack, Moscow had 119 Iskander missiles left in stock compared to 900 before the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 229 ship-launched Kalibr cruise missiles are understood to be left from the initial stock of 500 as of Feb. 23.
According to the data, Moscow still had 347 3M-55 Onyx missiles, 6,980 S-300 missiles, and 801 air-launched missiles of various types.Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Politico on Sept. 4 that Russians had already spent almost half of their weaponry arsenal, estimating that Russia was down to just “four dozen” hypersonic missiles.
