Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin and Zelensky declare rival ceasefires ahead of Moscow’s Victory Day parade – UK Times

Russian authorities have started blocking the internet and messaging services on cellphones in Moscow as part of its preparations to hold a secure Victory Day parade this week.

“Just got this text from my Moscow mobile operator: ‘During preparations for and the holding of holiday events from 5-9 May temporary restrictions to mobile internet and text messaging are possible in Moscow and Moscow region. This may cause difficulties with cashless payments, use of ATMs and GPS services.’,” said Steve Rosenberg, a journalist and BBC editor for Russia, based in Moscow.

The notice is similar to the last year’s preparations of military parade by the Russian authorities.

Vladimir Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting 7 May, 2025, and authorities blocked cellphone internet in Moscow for several days to avert Ukrainian drone attacks.

Last year’s parade on the 80th anniversary drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese president Xi Jinping, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico.

Ukraine has credible military and battlefield experience which makes the war-hit nation a strategic asset for Europe and Nato, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb said.

Speaking alongside his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel in Prague yesterday, Stubb called on Europe to shift its focus from “what it can do for Ukraine” to “what Ukraine can do for Europe”.

“We should gradually shift our thinking from ‘how can we help Ukraine’ to ‘how can Ukraine help us,’” Stubb said.

He added that there is “no other army in Europe or in the US that is capable of modern warfare in the way Ukraine is”.

At least two people were reportedly injured after a Russian drone attack on Brovary, a Ukrainian city northeast of Kyiv.

The drone hit residential apartments, damaging windows, the facade of a multi-storey building and a vehicle, said Kyiv regional military administration head Mykola Kalashynk.

“In Brovary, a 34-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were injured as a result of an enemy drone attack. The woman suffered a hand injury from glass fragments. The man sustained a cut wound to his heel,” he said.

Medics have provided all necessary assistance at the scene, regional officials said.

“This is yet another reminder that the enemy targets peaceful life and our homes. I urge everyone: do not ignore air raid alerts. Stay in safe places while the threat remains,” Kalashnyk said.

Ukraine has launched a major missile and drone attack on several regions in Russia, targeting a critical military-industrial site in the western part of the country, reported Telegram media channels.

The attack on Cheboksary in Chuvash republic sparked a massive fire, according to the photos and videos shared on social media by local residents. The fire was reported from JSC VNIIR-Progress, a state institute that produces components for high-precision weapons used in attacks on Ukraine by Russian forces, reported The Kyiv Independent.

A Ukrainian-made FP-5 Flamingo missile was used in the attack, according to Russian Telegram channels. Locals confirmed explosions from the area of the facility after an air raid alert announcing a missile threat.

One person was injured in the attack, local governor Oleg Nikolayev said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the meteorological monitoring equipment at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power ​plant in southeastern Ukraine had been damaged by a ‌drone.

The UN nuclear watchdog said a team of ​its experts had visited the station’s External Radiation Control Laboratory (ERCL), a day ​after the plant’s Russian management said it had been hit by a drone.

“Team observed damage to some of the lab’s meteorological monitoring equipment which is no ​longer operational,” the IAEA said.

The statement said IAEA director general Rafael Grossi had issued a fresh appeal “for maximum ‌military ⁠restraint near all nuclear facilities to avoid safety risks”.

The plant, which now produces no electricity, has been struck several times by drones since the beginning of the conflict. The plant’s management on Sunday said ​damage has been ​minor and that ⁠operations were otherwise unaffected.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed an open-ended ceasefire starting on Wednesday 6 May after Russia requested a two-day truce.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin had sought a ceasefire covering 8-9 May while Moscow celebrates Victory Day, the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

The Russian defence ministry said it would observe a unilateral ceasefire on Friday and Saturday, during which a military parade will be held in Red Square, but threatened it would strike back at Kyiv if the Victory Day festivities were disrupted.

Zelensky initially said Moscow’s request was “not serious” and refused to offer security for a parade in Moscow.

But he has now said Ukraine will observe a truce beginning at 12am on Wednesday and respond in kind to Russia’s actions from that moment on.

Keeping it open-ended, Zelensky did not announce when the temporary truce would end.

Russia have threatened to launch a “massive retaliatory missile strike” on the centre of Kyiv if Ukraine attempts to disrupt their World War Two Victory Day celebration on 9 May.

Vladimir Putin on Monday declared ⁠a ​two-day ⁠ceasefire ‌to mark the ‌anniversary of ‌the defeat ⁠of Nazi Germany, yet Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that they were yet to receive any official proposal.

On Monday, he dismissed the idea of a one-day ceasefire as “not serious”, after the Kremlin said it was discussed with Donald Trump.

Russia’s defence ministry warned: “Despite the capabilities at our disposal, Russia ⁠has previously refrained from such actions on humanitarian grounds,” adding however that it was ready to act if the ceasefire was not ‌respected.

“We are warning the ​civilian population of ‌Kyiv and staff ⁠at foreign diplomatic missions of ⁠the need to leave the city ‌in ​a timely manner,” it ‌said.

A midmorning Russian missile attack on the town of Merefa, in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, killed seven people and wounded more than ⁠30, including a 2-year-old boy, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said that at least 10 houses, an administrative building, four shops, a car repair workshop and a food establishment were damaged in the attack, which prosecutors said occurred at about 9:35am local time on Monday.

“The strike was of great force, at the centre ⁠of the town, practically in the middle of the ​roads,” ⁠he said on Telegram, adding that it will take another day or two to clear the debris.

He said that two men and three women were killed on the spot. ⁠Two people died while being treated in hospital.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.