Ukraine reported an attack by Russia on Wednesday a few hours after the ceasefire unilaterally decreed by kyiv came into force. For its part, Moscow announced a truce for the celebrations of the victory against Nazi Germany on May 9.
Published on: 06/05/2026 - 05:07 Modified on: 06/05/2026 - 14:04
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A ceasefire announced unilaterally by kyiv came into force at midnight on the night of Tuesday May 5 to Wednesday May 6, the day after Russian strikes which left at least 28 dead in Ukraine. Around 4:30 a.m. GMT, more than seven hours after the start of this truce, no Ukrainian attack had been reported by the Russian authorities.
On the Ukrainian side, on the other hand, alerts were sounded in several regions and the authorities reported two people injured in strikes in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, as well as industrial equipment hit in the Zaporizhia region.
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriï Sybiga, Russia sent “108 drones and three missiles”. “This shows that Russia rejects peace and that its false calls for a ceasefire on May 9 have nothing to do with diplomacy. Putin only cares about military parades, not human lives,” the minister commented on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Moscow's strikes on X. “Russia’s choice is a clear refusal of a ceasefire and to save lives,” he declared, once again threatening a “reciprocal” reaction.
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Earlier, he had warned that kyiv would respond "symmetrically" to any violation of its ceasefire, while Russia itself announced a truce for the celebrations of the victory against Nazi Germany on May 9.
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Tuesday turned out to be particularly bloody, with a total of 28 people killed in Ukraine, according to a report from local authorities updated on Wednesday.
“We need a stop to such strikes and all others like them every day, and not just for a few hours somewhere, in the name of 'celebrations,'” Volodymyr Zelensky stressed. “It is absolutely cynical to ask for a ceasefire in order to organize propaganda celebrations, while carrying out such strikes every day,” he denounced.
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Tuesday's Russian strikes killed 12 people in Zaporizhia, six in Kramatorsk, four in Dnipro, four in Poltava, one in Kharkiv and one in Nikopol.
A Ukrainian drone attack on occupied Crimea also left five people dead on Tuesday evening in the town of Djankoï, according to Russian authorities.
“Just a few hours before Ukraine's ceasefire proposal comes into force, Russia shows no signs of preparation to end hostilities. On the contrary, Moscow is intensifying terror,” noted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiga on Tuesday on X.
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Ukraine has long requested an extended truce to facilitate negotiations to end the war triggered by the large-scale Russian invasion of its territory in February 2022, the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
But the war in Ukraine has been largely eclipsed on the White House agenda by the conflict in the Gulf, and the prospect of talks has receded. The war in Ukraine was, however, raised on Tuesday during a call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the State Department announced.
Moscow refuses any lasting ceasefire
According to Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, kyiv's truce announcement is a tactical maneuver in the "informational and political" fields. “If Russia does not respect our ceasefire, we have the right not to respect theirs. This cancels Putin's initiative,” he said, judging that it was “almost certain” that none of the ceasefires would be fully followed.
In April, a 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire was repeatedly violated at the front, although a halt to long-range air attacks was observed.
Moscow refuses any lasting ceasefire, arguing that it would allow kyiv to strengthen its defenses. Russia demands in particular, before any cessation of fighting, that Ukraine cedes the entire Donetsk region (in the east of the country), which the Russian army only partially controls.
For the first time since the summer of 2023, the area controlled by Russians in Ukraine decreased by some 120 km2 in April, according to AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
With AFP
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