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.
The military commissar of Russia's Samara Oblast, Oleksiy Vdovin, said that the list of mobilized Russian soldiers killed in Makiivka, an industrial city in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, will not be made public, Riga-based Russian independent online newspaper The Insider reported.
Ukraine hit a Russian military base in occupied Makiivka in Donetsk Oblast on New Year's day, killing around 400 soldiers and injuring at least 300, the Strategic Communications Department of Ukraine's military wrote on Telegram.
In a rare admission, Russia's defense ministry claimed that 89 Russian soldiers were killed after Ukraine struck the base with four U.S.-supplied High-Mobility Rocket Artillery Systems (HIMARS).
Many of the mobilized soldiers killed in Makiivka were from Russia's southwestern Samara Oblast, according to The Insider.
Following the incident, a petition was published demanding that a complete list of names of those killed in Makiivka be published.
Vdovin claimed that the names of soldiers who had been killed were provided to the families and that the list could not be published allegedly due to security reasons, The Insider reported.
