Russia, Ukraine announce ceasefires amid Victory Day tensions
MOSCOW - President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will implement a ceasefire from midnight on Wednesday, shortly after Russia ordered a truce to coincide with Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
"We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration'," Zelenskyy said in a post announcing the ceasefire on X. "In this regard, we are announcing a ceasefire regime starting at 00:00 on the night of May 5-6."
"It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war," he added.
Russia's Defense Ministry said earlier that the ceasefire had been ordered by President Vladimir Putin and would apply on May 8 and 9, adding that Moscow expects Ukraine to follow suit.
Moscow also warned on Monday it would retaliate if Ukraine carried out attacks during the May 9 celebrations, with the Defense Ministry saying Russian forces could launch a "massive missile strike" on central Kiev. It said such action had so far been avoided for "humanitarian reasons," while urging civilians and foreign diplomatic staff to leave the Ukrainian capital if hostilities escalated.
Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the possibility of a holiday ceasefire in a phone call in late April, according to both sides. Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin had been considering such a step, while Trump later said the idea had been raised in Washington.
Zelenskyy subsequently sought clarification from the United States on the details of the discussion, reiterating that Ukraine supports a lasting ceasefire and a peace settlement backed by security guarantees.
Russia has been waging war against Ukraine for more than four years, during which both sides have declared short-term ceasefires around major public holidays.
The most recent attempt took place over Orthodox Easter in mid-April, when both sides largely paused long-range missile and drone strikes for about 30 hours but continued fighting along the front line, later accusing each other of thousands of violations.
A similar truce was declared for Victory Day in 2025, when Russia marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with a large military parade attended by foreign leaders including China's president, Xi Jinping, in Moscow's Red Square.
Russian strikes kill civilians
At least eight people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine, officials said earlier on Monday. Six people died and 24 were injured in a missile strike on the town of Merefa in the eastern Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
The victims were men and women aged between 41 and 74. Several residential buildings, high-rises and shops were damaged, and the nearby settlement of Bezliudivka was also hit by a drone, he said.
In the southern Kherson region, two men aged 71 and 72 were killed in separate artillery attacks on the villages of Shyroka Balka and Komyshany, the regional prosecutor's office said.
Further casualties were reported in the neighbouring Zaporizhzhya region, where at least two people were killed and four injured in drone strikes on the town of Vilniansk, around 35 kilometres from the front line.
Ukrainian drone hits Moscow high rise
The Russian attacks followed a Ukrainian strike early on Monday against a residential building near central Moscow. The damaged building, described by the Kyiv Independent as a luxury high-rise, is located in a western district of the capital that also hosts several embassies.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram, according to the state news agency TASS, that there were no injuries.
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