WAR IN UKRAINE: May 9, 2022
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky shown from a clip in his pre-recorded May 8 speech.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 74
Vladimir Putin is set to preside over a huge military parade in Moscow marking victory over the Nazis in World War Two. The annual celebration has taken on added significance as Russia's war in Ukraine falters. There is speculation that Putin could use the occasion to make a major announcement related to the invasion. The Kremlin says parades will take place in 28 Russian cities involving 65,000 people, 2,400 items of military hardware and more than 400 aircraft - BBC. Also on this day, Russia’s ambassador to Poland was splattered with red paint by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine, reports CNBC.
In his own Victory Day speech on Sunday, Ukraine's President Zelensky said Russia was replicating Nazi atrocities. Decades after World War II, the darkness has returned to Ukraine,” he said in a pre-recorded speech. “Evil has returned. In a different form, under different slogans, but with the same purpose.” “We did not last even a century. Our ‘never again’ was enough for 77 years.”
UK Defense Secretary to say Putin’s regime ‘mirroring’ actions of Nazis. Based on an advance copy of his May 9 speech provided to the Telegraph and Times, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace will reportedly say: “Through their invasion of Ukraine, Putin, his inner circle and generals are now mirroring the fascism and tyranny of 70 years ago, repeating the errors of last century’s totalitarian regimes” - Kyiv Independent
US embassy returns to Kyiv. U.S. Charge d’affaires Kristina Kvien and her team arrived in Kyiv on May 8, a senior U.S. State Department official said. Last week Kvien said during a visit to Lviv that her team would operate out of Lviv first before moving back to Kyiv. On the same day, during a surprise visit to Kyiv, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, announced the opening is his embassy - which co-habitates in the same building as the Australians. As I told CNN’s Isa Suarez just now on air, the Canadian diplomats were one of the first to leave Kyiv and one of the last to come back. Still, it’s symbolically very important for a country which was the first western nation to recognize Ukrainian independence.
European Council President Charles Michel says silos full of grain are sitting blocked in Odesa as Russian forces target the Ukrainian port with missile strikes. He said that stocks of grain, wheat, and corn were sitting ready for export, prompting the need for "a global response." He added: "This badly needed food is stranded because of the Russian war and blockade of Black Sea ports. Causing dramatic consequences for vulnerable countries," Michel said on Twitter. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron says it could take several years for Ukraine to formally join the European Union. Joining the bloc was part of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s set of red lines for a possible peace agreement to end the war.
The world's largest brewer launched production of a popular Ukrainian beer, named after the heavily-bombed out city of Chernihiv, in Belgium on Friday and said all profits made from its global sales would go to humanitarian relief in Ukraine following Russia's invasion. More here