Russia Downs 264 Ukrainian Drones as Zelenskyy Rejects Victory Day Ceasefire

Russia and Ukraine traded accusations of breaching a short ceasefire announced by Moscow to coincide with Victory Day commemorations, with the Kremlin saying its forces downed 264 Ukrainian drones early on Friday.

“Dozens of Ukrainian drones target Moscow, mayor says, amid overnight attack on Russia Russia said that its forces intercepted at least 427 Ukrainian drones”

ABC News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the truce as ineffective, saying Russia had carried out more than 140 attacks on front-line positions by early morning, alongside 10 assaults and more than 850 drone attacks.

ABC News

The BBC reported that Russia’s defence ministry said there had been 1,365 violations of the ceasefire, including 153 artillery strikes and 887 drone strikes in the conflict zone.

In Moscow, the Russian transport ministry said 13 airports in Russia’s south halted operations due to drone attacks, adding that there were no casualties.

Zelenskyy said, “As we did over the past 24 hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well,” as Ukraine also reported striking a Russian oil facility in Yaroslavl.

Zelenskyy told reporters that “We will defend our positions and people’s lives,” while the BBC said Russia had warned Ukraine not to try to attack the Victory Day parade in Red Square.

The BBC also reported that Russia’s defence ministry threatened to launch a "retaliatory, massive missile strike" on the centre of Kyiv if Moscow was attacked.

Al Jazeera

In Moscow, the BBC said Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported some 20 drones had been downed near the city in just the first two hours of the ceasefire, and it added that residents of Moscow and St Petersburg were warned their mobile internet access would be limited for security reasons.

The Independent described drones entering from Russian territory and crashing into an oil storage facility in Rezekne, about 40km (25 miles) from the Russian border, and said Nato jets were summoned to Latvia after the incident.

In a separate account, Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko said the attack on the oil refinery was “quite typical…we’ve seen plenty of those in the past two years, at least, with Ukraine targeting energy infrastructure”.

As the truce window ran from May 8 to May 10, Russia warned foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital ahead of 9 May, while the BBC said Russia’s defence ministry warned foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital ahead of 9 May.

“Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of breaching a short ceasefire announced by Moscow to coincide with Victory Day commemorations marking the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany”

Al Jazeera

The BBC said the celebrations used to bring large numbers of foreign guests to Moscow, but this time only the leaders of Belarus, Malaysia and Laos, and a few other dignitaries, will attend.

AP reported that Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense shot down 347 Ukrainian drones overnight, and it added that nearly 100 flights in and out of Moscow’s three main airports—Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo—were delayed or canceled by midday.

AP also said Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv saw a drone strike that wounded nine people, including three children, as cross-border attacks continued despite both Kyiv and Moscow announcing their own rival temporary ceasefires.

Zelenskyy said on Thursday, “They want Ukraine’s permission to hold their parade — so they can safely take to the square for an hour once a year, and then go back to killing our people and waging war,” linking the ceasefire dispute to what he called continued attacks.