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.
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.
Russian Foreign Minstry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova attends an annual news conference in Russia on Jan. 14, 2022. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Russian government seeks "a more objective and clearer position" from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the situation at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti reported on Aug. 28.
A day prior, Rafael Grossi, the director of the IAEA, visited the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant following allegations from Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials that Ukraine has tried – or intends to try – to attack the plant amid the ongoing Ukrainian incursion in the area.
Kyiv has denied the allegations.
After the visit, Grossi warned about the risks associated with the facility amid Ukraine's ongoing incursion into Kursk Oblast, but said the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant was "operating in very close to normal conditions."
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, in an interview with Radio Sputnik, criticized the IAEA's statement, saying that the agency must speak out more clearly on nuclear security issues.
"We see both the assessments and the work of this structure (the IAEA), but each time, we want a more objective and clearer expression of the position of this structure," Zakharova said.
"Not in favor of our country, not in favor of confirming Moscow's position, but in favor of facts with one specific goal: ensuring safety and preventing the development of a scenario along a catastrophic path, to which the Kyiv regime is pushing everyone," she claimed.
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WTF is wrong with Russia?
The fault of the Ukrainian side in escalating nuclear danger at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is more than obvious, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed on the same day, according to RIA Novosti.
On Aug. 28, Russia's National Guard also claimed on Telegram that its sappers had found a shell from a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple launch rocket system 5 km (3 miles) from the plant, as well as a rocket fragment which it said was stuffed with 180 unexploded munitions.
A video published by Russia's National Guard showed alleged fragments of the rocket, which two soldiers claimed had been shot down by Russian air defenses and had partially exploded in the air.
Ukraine earlier refuted Russian Putin's accusations that Kyiv had attempted to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.
"Russia's desired scenario of Ukraine's Defense Forces attacking the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant to accuse them of nuclear terrorism fell apart, so Putin joined the propaganda," said Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Dinara Khalilova
