On the eve of May 9, Ukraine and Russia continued launching drone attacks against each other despite Russia's unilateral ceasefire announcement.

After Moscow announced a unilateral ceasefire to prepare for the May 9 WWII commemoration event—which will be held under tight security—Russia and Ukraine continued exchanging drone attacks on Friday, even though the ceasefire took effect at midnight.

On Friday, both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of failing to abide by Moscow’s unilateral ceasefire agreement, which came into effect at midnight in honor of May 9, and each condemned the other’s drone attacks.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy emphasized on the X platform that Russian forces had launched over 850 drones toward the front lines during the night. He said, “The Russians made no attempt whatsoever to cease fire along the frontline—even symbolically.”

He added, “Ukraine will respond in kind today.” According to Ukrainian military sources, 56 Russian drones have been shot down in areas beyond the front lines across Ukraine.

The Russian air defense forces announced that since the ceasefire agreement took effect at midnight Moscow time on Friday, they have intercepted more than 250 Ukrainian drones.

Previously, Moscow pledged that during the ceasefire period, Russia would “completely” halt all shooting along the frontline and at deeper military infrastructure within Ukraine, while warning that if Ukraine failed to follow suit with a ceasefire, Russia would retaliate.

As a result, Moscow urged civilians and foreign diplomats to evacuate Kyiv on Wednesday and Thursday to avoid potential “retaliatory” strikes by Russia.

According to an AFP report from Kyiv on May 8, Ukraine never indicated it would comply with Moscow’s unilateral call to stop attacks. Instead, it harshly criticized Russian President Putin’s move, accusing him of merely seeking to pause hostilities for the parade scheduled for Saturday on Red Square, while completely ignoring Ukraine’s ceasefire proposal issued by President Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

"Routine occurrence"

In Kyiv, residents interviewed by AFP on Friday dismissed Russia’s threats as unconvincing.

Wasiy Kozhar, a 40-year-old bank employee, said: “Nothing new is going to happen.” He has no intention of leaving the city just in case, but will stick to his usual safety precautions. “I’m worried, but this has become routine,” he said. “We’ve already experienced too much.”

Victoria Dorofeyeva, a 30-year-old engineer, insisted she had no plans to leave Kyiv. She said, “I’ll only go to a shelter—that’s my limit.” She also noted, “If we don’t strike first, they’ll eventually attack us anyway.”

A Ukrainian government insider interviewed by AFP on Friday revealed that no special security measures are currently planned. A female lawmaker who requested anonymity said, “We’re just giving them the middle finger.”

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, issued warnings to Russia’s allies planning to attend the parade in Red Square on Saturday.

Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, has now entered its fifth year, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. This is the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

As May 9 approaches—when Russia will celebrate the 1945 German surrender anniversary—threatening rhetoric between Ukraine and Russia has intensified.

On Friday, a major forest fire broke out in the radioactive zone near Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, following the crash of a drone the previous day, heightening public concerns.

However, according to officials managing the protected area surrounding the nuclear plant, no rise in radiation levels has been detected so far.

Source: rfi

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1864683613966474/

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