Ukraine’s Dictator Vladimir Zelensky announced Monday that Kiev will observe a ceasefire beginning at midnight of May 5 to 6 for Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, marked by a military parade in Moscow. Russia will also observe a ceasefire on May 8 and 9.
Leading up to the ceasefires Ukraine attacked a high-rise building in Moscow with a drone Monday morning, a possible vision of things to come as both nations accused the other of violating their Easter ceasefire.
“As of today, there has been no official appeal to Ukraine regarding the modality of a cessation of hostilities that is being claimed on Russian social media. We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration’. In this regard, we are announcing a ceasefire regime starting at 00:00 on the night of May 5–6. In the time left until that moment, it is realistic to ensure that silence takes effect. We will act reciprocally starting from that moment. It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s Defense Ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill,” Zelensky said Monday.
“The Russian Defense Ministry has announced a two-day ceasefire on May 8–9 to mark the end of World War II in Europe, calling on Kiev to follow suit. It warned that any attempt to disrupt the celebrations, including a strike on Moscow, would be met with a retaliatory strike on the Ukrainian capital,” RT said Monday.
“If the Kiev regime attempts to implement its criminal plans to disrupt the celebration of the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Russian Armed Forces will launch a retaliatory, massive missile strike on the center of Kiev,” the Russian defense ministry said in a post on state-backed messaging app MAX. “We warn the civilian population of Kiev and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of the need to leave the city promptly.”
The military parade will be taking place in an active war zone.
“A Ukrainian drone hit an upmarket residential high-rise in Moscow in the early hours of Monday, causing visible damage to the façade of the building but no casualties,” the BBC said Monday. “It was the third night in a row the Russian capital came under attack from drones, days before Russia holds a scaled-back parade to mark the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.”
As if to add to the tension, when speaking about the upcoming parade in Moscow, Zelensky said Russia fears “drones may buzz over Red Square” in a video posted to his social media directly after Monday morning’s drone strike in Moscow.
Drones have been heavily used throughout the conflict with hundreds launched in just the last 24 hours.
“A total of 117 were intercepted over several Russian regions between Sunday and Monday, the Russian defence ministry said. Sixty alone were aimed at the region of St Petersburg in what the regional governor Aleksandr Drodzhenko said had been a ‘massive’ attack,” the BBC said Monday.
After Ukraine struck Russian oil facilities Sunday poisonous black rain began to fall in parts of Russia.
“Ukraine is intensifying drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, hitting a key Black Sea refinery four times in two weeks and setting off a days-long carcinogenic blaze that environmentalists say represents one of the country’s worst ecological disasters since the fall of the Soviet Union,” The Washington Post said Monday.
One Response
Refreshing to see a news source start providing coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict again. NO ONE else out there seems to do so anymore. I get that what happens with Iran is so much more consequential, but still…NO coverage? Kind of ridiculous.