By Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan
MOSCOW, May 8 (Reuters) – Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of violating a unilateral two-day ceasefire announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin to cover the anniversary celebrations of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.
Four years since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, Russia and Ukraine are still pummelling each other with missiles, drones and artillery.
With no victory yet in sight for either side in a gruelling war of attrition, Putin announced a May 8-9 ceasefire to cover the celebrations of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany – Russia’s most revered national holiday.
Kyiv responded that a ceasefire just for the holiday was inappropriate and called instead for an indefinite truce to begin two days earlier, which Moscow ignored.
The Russian Defence Ministry said 264 Ukrainian drones had been downed in the early hours of Friday, while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the capital had been targeted and officials said the Urals region of Perm had been attacked with drones.
“Despite the declaration of a ceasefire, Ukrainian armed forces continued to launch attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles and artillery against our troops’ positions, as well as against civilian facilities in the border regions of the Belgorod and Kursk regions,” Russia’s defence ministry said.
Russia has warned that any attempt by Ukraine to disrupt the Victory Day military parade on Red Square on Saturday would lead to a massive missile strike on Kyiv. Moscow has told foreign diplomats that if Ukraine does attack the event, they should evacuate the Ukrainian capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces continued to strike Ukrainian positions during the night on Friday, which he said showed Russia has not made “even a token attempt to cease fire on the front.”
“As we did over the past 24 hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well. We will defend our positions and people’s lives,” Zelenskiy said.
WAR AMID WW2 VICTORY CELEBRATIONS
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine, but pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in May 1945.
This year’s parade in Moscow – usually a show of Russian military might with intercontinental ballistic missiles and tanks – will have no military equipment on display due to the threat of attack from Ukraine.
Russia is stepping up security around Putin in case of a Ukrainian attack on Saturday’s celebrations, the Kremlin said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed CNN and other Western media reports that Putin’s protection had been intensified because of fears of a coup or assassination.
“You know that on the eve of major holidays, and, of course, perhaps most importantly, Victory Day in our country, additional security measures are always taken by the relevant special services,” Peskov told reporters.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that Putin would deliver a speech at the event and meet later with visiting foreign dignitaries, including from Laos, Malaysia and Slovakia.
WAR FOR MORE THAN FOUR YEARS
The Kremlin has tried to use the victory parades in recent years to rally Russians around the war in Ukraine, but Moscow’s troops have now been fighting in Ukraine for well over four years – longer than the Soviet involvement, from 1941-45, in what Russians refer to as the Great Patriotic War.
Russia, which controls about 19.4% of Ukraine, has seen its advances slow this year, taking just 700 square km in the first four months of the year, according to pro-Ukrainian maps.
No end is in sight, with peace talks stalled as Ukraine rejects Putin’s demand that it surrender territory it has successfully defended since 2022.
Russian businesses and ordinary people have vented increasing frustration in recent weeks at frequent internet outages that Putin has defended as necessary security measures.
Moscow is on high alert for any attempt by Ukraine to disrupt events on Saturday: Russian security officers atop all-terrain vehicles were seen near the Kremlin, while metro stations will be closed across central Moscow.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Mark Trevelyan in LondonEditing by Peter Graff)
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