Ukraine reports Russian strikes as ceasefire is due to begin

Just hours before Ukraine’s unilateral ceasefire was set to begin at midnight, officials in Kyiv said Russia had launched fresh attacks, following a wave of strikes that killed at least 28 people in cities across the war-scarred country.

Russian authorities had not reported any Ukrainian attacks several hours after the proposed truce was due to start. In southern Ukraine, however, officials in the Zaporizhzhia region said early this morning that Russian forces had struck local infrastructure.

Both Russia and Ukraine separately declared unilateral ceasefires on different dates this week, with Moscow insisting on a pause timed to its annual Victory Day commemorations on 9 May.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of acting with “utter cynicism” by pressing ahead with deadly attacks while calling for a suspension in fighting.

Firefighters battle a blaze sparked by a Russian strike in Kramatorsk, Ukraine

“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.

Later, officials in the eastern city of Kramatorsk reported one additional death.

Ukrainian drone attacks also killed five civilians, according to the Moscow-installed head of Crimea, the region Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russia struck the city of Dnipro late last night, as Ukraine’s ceasefire deadline approached.

“With mere hours until Ukraine’s ceasefire proposal comes into force, Russia shows no signs of preparing to end hostilities. On the contrary, Moscow intensifies terror,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiga said on X.

Earlier, Mr Zelensky said a strike that killed 12 people in Zaporizhzhia, the southern frontline city, had “absolutely no military justification”.

Cars lie wrecked in the street after a Russian strike

Russian strikes also pounded central Kramatorsk, the last major city in the contested Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control.

Six people were killed there, according to an updated statement from Kramatorsk military administration head Oleksandr Goncharenko, who revised earlier reports that put the toll at five.

Mr Zelensky said the strike on Kramatorsk “hit right in the city centre, targeting civilians”.

He said four civilians were also killed in Dnipro.

The attacks were the deadliest seen in weeks, as already-stalled peace efforts fell further into the background.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone yesterday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the State Department said.

The call, held at Mr Lavrov’s request, covered “the US-Russia relationship, the Russia-Ukraine war, and Iran,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said, offering no further detail.

Russia also confirmed the conversation, saying the two sides discussed the “schedule of bilateral contacts”, without expanding further.

Troops take part in a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Escalating attacks

Russia’s 9 May parade has long served as a sweeping display of military power and, since 2022, the Kremlin has used it to draw a link between the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and its war in Ukraine.

But this year, the Kremlin ordered a reduced version of the event, with no military hardware on display, amid fears it could become a target for Ukrainian strikes.

Authorities also restricted mobile internet across Moscow yesterday morning ahead of the parade, with telecom operators saying the curbs would remain in place until Saturday.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has stepped up its long-range retaliatory attacks, striking a series of Russian oil facilities as well as a luxury high-rise building inside Russia.

Kyiv says those attacks are a justified response to Russia’s near-nightly drone and missile bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

Brief ceasefires have occurred before, with both sides pausing long-range attacks over Orthodox Easter last month.

There is still no indication the four-year war is nearing a settlement through negotiations.

Russia has demanded that Ukraine fully pull its forces from the eastern Donbas region and give up Western military backing — conditions widely viewed in Ukraine as tantamount to surrender, and ones Kyiv has rejected.