Putin ignores Zelensky’s ceasefire with fresh strikes

 Vladimir Putin ignored Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for a ceasefire and launched strikes on Ukraine.

Russia had violated the unilateral ceasefire announced by Kyiv, which took effect on Tuesday night, a total of 1,820 times by 10am local time, the Ukrainian president said.

Mr Zelensky said Moscow’s attacks included “shelling, attempted assaults, air strikes and the use of drones” and demonstrated an “obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives”.

According to local monitoring channels and the Ukrainian air force, strikes occurred in Dnipro, and in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Russian authorities did not immediately report any Ukrainian strikes several hours into the proposed truce, but later claimed that Kyiv had launched attacks on occupied Crimea and Russia’s Bryansk region close to the border.

Russia’s defence ministry wrote on Telegram that it had downed 53 Ukrainian drones overnight in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Moscow regions.

Mr Zelensky suggested on Wednesday that Ukraine would retaliate symmetrically.

“Ukraine clearly stated that it would act in kind, taking into account Russia’s persistent appeals through the media and social networks asking for a ceasefire during the Moscow parade,” he said.

Moscow and Kyiv each announced unilateral ceasefires on different dates this week, with Russia first demanding a pause to coincide with its annual Second World War Victory Day commemorations on May 9.

Mr Zelensky countered the plea by saying the ceasefire should take effect sooner, and arguing that an earlier pause would test whether Moscow would abide by a break in the fighting.

The Ukrainian president said: “It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s defence ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.”

Responding to the Russian strikes, Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, ‌said on X: “This ⁠shows that Russia rejects ⁠peace and its fake calls for a ceasefire on ‌May 9 have nothing ‌to do with ⁠diplomacy.”

He added that Vladimir Putin “only cares about ‌military parades, not human lives”.

Russia’s May 9 parade is typically a display of military strength, and the Kremlin has sought to link the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany with the invasion of Ukraine since 2022.

But the Kremlin ordered that the parades be scaled back this year because of fears they could be targeted by Ukraine.

No military hardware will be displayed at Saturday’s parade for the first time in almost two decades, because of security concerns, while a number of additional air defence systems have been transferred to the capital from other areas to shield the pageant.

The Kremlin also cut off mobile internet throughout Moscow on Tuesday morning, with operators reporting restrictions would last until Saturday.

Meanwhile, Putin has reportedly banned his staff from using mobile phones and ordered that surveillance systems be installed in their homes amid fears over his safety.

Russia also announced tests on Wednesday of nuclear-capable missiles, to take place at the Kura military range in Kamchatka, a peninsula in Russia’s east.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, spoke with Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, on Tuesday.

The counterparts, who spoke at Mr Lavrov’s request, “discussed the US-Russia relationship, the Russia-Ukraine war and Iran”, a spokesman said.

Russia confirmed the call and said it had discussed the “schedule of bilateral contacts”, but did not elaborate.

The phone call took place hours after a wave of attacks killed at least 28 people in cities across Ukraine.

Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Tuesday evening – before Kyiv’s ceasefire was due to take effect – that the  authorities had been dealing with the aftermath of Russian strikes in regions including Poltava, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Odesa, Chernigiv and Sumy.

“As of now, 27 people have been killed and at least 120 injured as a result of today’s Russian strikes across the country,” Mr Klymenko said.

A subsequent update from the eastern city of Kramatorsk added one more fatality.

Ukrainian drone strikes also killed five civilians, according to an update early on Wednesday from the head of the Crimea region, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Kyiv has intensified its retaliatory long-range strikes in recent weeks, hitting a number of Russian oil facilities and a luxury high-rise building in Moscow.

There is no sign that the four-year war is close to being resolved at the negotiating table.

Moscow has demanded that Kyiv withdraw all troops from the eastern Donbas area and renounce Western military support, something Ukraine has rejected.