Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least 22 people today, including 12 in one of the worst strikes so far this year, as the deadline approached for a proposal from Kyiv for an open-ended ceasefire to begin at midnight.
Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least 22 people today, including 12 in one of the worst strikes so far this year, as the deadline approached for a proposal from Kyiv for an open-ended ceasefire to begin at midnight.
Russia announced a ceasefire for 8-9 May, dates when it commemorates the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two and holds a military parade.
Ukraine, in response, announced a proposal for an open-ended ceasefire starting at midnight tonight, urging Russia to reciprocate.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was not an option for Russia to halt strikes for one day for its military parade while having heavily pounded Ukraine.
At least 12 people were killed in the city of Zaporizhzhia, emergency services said on the Telegram app. According to the regional governor Ivan Fedorov, at least 16 more were injured.
Residential buildings, a car repair service and a car wash were damaged in the attack, he said. The attack also sparked fires at a shop and an unidentified enterprise, he added.
Images from the site that he shared showed a heavily damaged building with billowing flames and smoke. Cars are seen burning as first responders help bloodied people leave the site.
Three aerial bombs dropped on the eastern frontline city of Kramatorsk killed five other people, Mr Zelensky said on Telegram. Five people were injured, he added, warning that the death toll might rise.
A Russian overnight strike on the gas production facilities in the Poltava region killed five, Ukrainian officials said.
In Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack on the Chuvashia region killed two today, the Russian state news agency reported.
Russia has threatened a “massive missile strike” on Kyiv if Ukraine violates its Victory Day ceasefire.
The quarrelling between the two sides comes with a lull in US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war, as the US shifts its focus to conflict in the Middle East.
“In accordance with a decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, a ceasefire has been declared from 8-9 May 2026. We hope that the Ukrainian side will follow suit,” the Russian defence ministry said in a post on state-backed messaging service MAX.
“If the Kyiv 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 centre of Kyiv,” it added.
“We warn the civilian population of Kyiv and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of the need to leave the city promptly,” it said.
Russia marks World War II Victory Day each year with a massive military parade through Red Square.
“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,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on X.
“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 5-6 May,” he added.
He did not specify how long the ceasefire would last.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga also condemned Russia’s truce, saying, “Peace cannot wait until ‘parades’ and ‘celebrations'”.
“If Moscow is prepared to end hostilities, it can do so already tomorrow night,” Mr Sybiga posted on X.
He said Mr Zelensky’s truce was a “serious proposal to end the war and turn to diplomacy”.
The Ukrainian leader later landed in the Gulf nation of Bahrain for talks on “security cooperation”, a source in the Ukrainian delegation said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday that meteorological monitoring equipment at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine had been damaged by a drone.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, was seized by Russian forces in the early weeks of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Each side has since regularly accused the other of military action which could compromise safety at the plant, located near the war’s front line.
KHARKIV, UKRAINE – MAY 04: The aftermath of the missile attack by Russian troops on the city of Merefa, Kharkiv region, Ukraine on May 4, 2026. As a result of the attack, seven people died and 36 were injured to varying degrees. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The aftermath of a missile strike by Russian troops on the city of Merefa, Ukraine
Russia advances slow
Russia lost more territory than it gained in Ukraine in April for the first time since a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed.
Russia ceded control of about 120sq/km between March and April, the ISW data showed.
Despite the fighting at the front reaching a near stalemate, intense and deadly drone-dominated attacks have continued unabated in recent months.
Russia’s advances have slowed since late last year, as communication issues in the Russian army combined with Ukrainian counterattacks helped Ukraine make localised breakthroughs in the southeast.
The Ukrainian army’s net gains – their first in more than two years – were marginal however, representing only 0.02% of Ukrainian territory, the data showed.
Russia currently occupies just over 19% of Ukraine, the majority of which it seized during the first weeks of its invasion in 2022.
Approximately 7%, including Crimea and areas in the Donbas region, were already under Russian or pro-Russian separatist control before the invasion.
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