Day 1,170.

Today, as the end of the Second World War in Europe is marked in most European countries, we report how Vladimir Putin’s three-day ‘goodwill ceasefire’ designed to protect his own commemoration tomorrow appears to have been broken already, we examine three very strong and uncharacteristically critical comments by the United States administration about Russia, and we ask whether Friedrich Merz has hit the ground running, or fallen at the first hurdle.

Contributors:

Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

James Rothwell (Berlin Correspondent). @JamesERothwell on X.

Hamish De Bretton-Gordon (Chemical Weapons Expert and Former Tank Commander). @HamishDBG on X.

Content Referenced:

'Putin’s top 3 lies: from Ukraine to the Second World War' (Video by Francis):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mdvqJy-zVk

Putin welcomes Xi Jinping at Kremlin (The Telegraph Live Blog):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/08/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-xi-jinping-moscow/

JD Vance: Russia is asking for too much from Ukraine (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/05/07/jd-vance-russia-asking-too-much-from-ukraine/

Former British Army soldier “Swampy” killed in Ukraine (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/07/former-british-soldier-killed-in-ukraine/

Putin’s Victory Day display is a charade, not a parade (Hamish’s article):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/08/putins-victory-day-display-is-a-charade-not-a-parade/

Russia has damaged, destroyed over 2,300 medical infrastructure facilities since beginning of full-scale invasion, health ministry says (Kyiv Independent):

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-has-damaged-destroyed-over-2-300-medical-infrastructure-facilities-since-beginning-of-full-scale-invasion-health-ministry-says/

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