Warring sides accuse one another of violations as assaults proceed throughout entrance strains.
Printed On 8 Could 2026
Russia and Ukraine have accused one another of breaching a brief ceasefire introduced by Moscow to coincide with Victory Day commemorations marking the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
The Kremlin stated its forces downed 264 Ukrainian drones early on Friday, with officers in Moscow reporting tried assaults on the capital and within the Perm area within the Ural Mountains.
Advisable Tales
checklist of three objectsfinish of checklist
The truce, declared from Could 8 to Could 10, was supposed to cowl annual celebrations that embody a army parade in Moscow.
Russia had warned that any disruption would set off a large-scale missile response in opposition to Kyiv, urging international diplomats to depart the Ukrainian capital earlier than potential escalation.
In a separate announcement, the Russian transport ministry stated on Friday that 13 airports in Russia’s south halted operations as a result of drone assaults.
“Operations on the regional centre in Rostov-on-Don, which manages air site visitors in southern Russia, have been quickly suspended after Ukrainian drone struck the executive constructing of the ‘Southern Russia Air Navigation’ department,” the ministry stated.
There have been no casualties, it added.
Victory Day commemorations mark the Soviet Union’s lack of 27 million folks in World Warfare II, because it drove Nazi forces again to Berlin, the place Adolf Hitler died, and the Purple Military’s Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in Could 1945.
‘We’ll defend our folks’s lives’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated Russian forces continued to assault positions in a single day, dismissing the ceasefire as ineffective.
He stated Russia had carried out greater than 140 assaults on front-line positions by early morning, alongside 10 assaults and greater than 850 drone assaults.
“As we did over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine will reply in type right now as nicely. We’ll defend our positions and other people’s lives,” Zelenskyy stated.
Ukraine additionally reported hanging a Russian oil facility in Yaroslavl, deep inside Russian territory, in what Kyiv described as retaliation for assaults on its cities.
“Ukraine’s long-range sanctions continued in response to Russian strikes on our cities and villages,” Zelenskyy stated.
Kyiv had proposed an open-ended ceasefire starting on Could 6, which it stated Russia ignored. Moscow didn’t undertake that proposal, and neither facet accepted the opposite’s phrases.
In remarks earlier than the truce, Zelenskyy criticised Russia’s strategy to the commemorations, saying Moscow sought a pause “to carry their parade, to exit onto the sq. safely for an hour yearly, after which proceed killing, killing our folks and waging struggle”.
“The Russians are already speaking about strikes after Could 9. Unusual and definitely inappropriate of the Russian management,” he added.
“Simply as 81 years in the past, so now America might help peace with a simply and powerful stance in opposition to the aggressor,” Zelenskyy stated. “And it’s important that the American folks now view Russia exactly on this approach – as an aggressor.”
