In a sharp escalation of hostilities just hours after Ukraine enacted its own unilateral ceasefire, Russian forces have launched a coordinated wave of drone and missile strikes across Ukrainian civilian and frontline areas, killing multiple civilians and drawing sharp condemnation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Local officials in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region confirmed Wednesday morning that a direct strike on a local kindergarten claimed the life of one adult woman. No children were present on site at the time of the attack, limiting what could have been a far deadlier outcome.
The breakdown in the temporary truce comes after both Russia and Ukraine announced competing unilateral ceasefires earlier this week, with no shared agreement on terms, duration or independent monitoring. Russia first declared a 36-hour truce spanning May 8 and 9 to coincide with its annual Victory Day commemorations marking the Soviet Union’s 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany, which will be capped Saturday by a traditional military parade on Moscow’s Red Square. Ukraine followed suit, announcing an open-ended ceasefire starting at midnight Tuesday, stating it would respond symmetrically to any Russian actions.
Zelenskyy accused Russia of outright rejecting the opportunity to de-escalate and save civilian lives in a statement Wednesday morning. “Russia’s choice is an obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives,” the president said, adding that Ukraine would “decide on our further actions” after receiving updated evening briefings from military and intelligence commanders. Zelenskyy noted that Russian forces had launched “active hostilities and terrorist shelling” across the frontline, alongside dozens of drone and missile strikes targeting populated civilian areas.
A wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine Tuesday left 27 civilians dead, including 12 people killed in strikes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region alone. Andriy Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said the continued aggression laid bare the insincerity of Moscow’s ceasefire call. “Fake calls for a ceasefire on May 9th have nothing to do with diplomacy. Putin only cares about military parades, not human lives,” Sybiha said.
This year’s Victory Day events in Russia, including the Red Square parade, have been scaled back dramatically, with officials citing a heightened “terrorist threat” from Ukraine. Residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg have also been notified that mobile internet service will be disrupted across parts of both cities during the commemorations for security purposes.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has worked to shield the Russian public from direct impacts of the war. But in recent months, Ukraine has increasingly demonstrated its ability to strike deep into Russian territory with long-range drones. While these attacks typically cause limited physical damage, they have eroded public confidence and rattled Russian political leadership.
On Tuesday, Ukraine carried out a strike on the city of Cheboksary, located more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the Ukrainian border, which killed two people.
Moscow has not issued any formal response to Ukraine’s ceasefire proposal. Instead, the Kremlin has threatened to carry out a “massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if Ukraine violates Russia’s 8-9 May truce. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday that it had downed 53 Ukrainian drones between 21:00 Tuesday and 07:00 Wednesday GMT, but did not clarify whether any of the intercepted drones were launched after Ukraine’s ceasefire went into effect.