Russia and Ukraine Exchange Strikes After Kyiv Declares Unilateral Ceasefire

Russia launched fresh attacks on Dnipro and Kharkiv, Ukrainian authorities said, hours after Kyiv announced its own open-ended ceasefire from midnight on Tuesday. A kindergarten in the Sumy region was hit on Wednesday morning, local authorities reported. Two people were killed in the strike though no children were present at the time.

President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of breaching the unilateral ceasefire announced by Ukraine. He said Russia had carried out active hostilities and terrorist shelling targeting the front line and firing dozens of drones and missiles at civilian areas. Zelensky stated that Russia's choice was an obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives.

A slew of attacks on Tuesday left 27 people across Ukraine dead, with 12 victims killed in Zaporizhzhia alone. Ukraine had proposed a counter-truce from May 6 before announcing its open-ended ceasefire and stated it would act symmetrically from the point of its ceasefire announcement. Zelensky warned Ukraine would respond symmetrically to any Russian attacks.

Zelensky said Ukraine had observed additional rings of air defence built up around Moscow with systems redeployed from other parts of Russia. He said the Kremlin was more concerned about its parade in Moscow than about the rest of the country. Zelensky noted that parts of Russia left uncovered by air defence created additional opportunities for Ukrainian long-range strikes.

Andriy Sybiha said Russia's continued aggression showed fake calls for a ceasefire on May 9th have nothing to do with diplomacy and that Putin only cares about military parades, not human lives. Zelensky on Thursday warned Russia’s allies against attending its May 9 World War II victory parade.

“We have also received messages from some states close to Russia saying that their representatives plan to be in Moscow and we do not recommend it,” Zelensky said.

Moscow has unilaterally declared a ceasefire from May 8 to 10 in its war on Ukraine. Russia is proposing a two-day truce from Friday to mark Victory Day. Various events are due to be held in Russia on Saturday including a grand military parade on Red Square though this year's Victory Day event will be a pared-down version due to the terrorist threat from Kyiv.

Residents of Moscow and St Petersburg have been warned their mobile internet access will be disrupted for security reasons. The Russian army has urged residents to leave Kyiv in case of a potential retaliatory strike on Victory Day. Moscow has threatened a massive missile strike on central Kyiv if Ukraine violates Russia's unilateral 8-9 May truce.

On Tuesday Kyiv launched strikes far into Russian territory killing two people in Cheboksary more than 1500 km away from Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry said it had downed 53 Ukrainian drones between 21:00 and 07:00 overnight into Wednesday. The Kremlin launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022.