Overview
- The Russian Defense Ministry, which announced the May 8–9 ceasefire on Monday, said it would launch a “massive missile” strike on central Kyiv if the pause is breached.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared a Ukrainian ceasefire starting at midnight from May 5 to 6 and vowed reciprocity, then accused Moscow of ignoring it after strikes that killed at least 20 civilians in Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk, Dnipro, Poltava and other regions.
- Ukraine expanded drone attacks into Russia, with blasts reported in Moscow and a strike in occupied Crimea that Russian officials said killed five people in Dzhankoi.
- Moscow tightened parade security for Victory Day, removed visible military hardware from the event, and blocked most mobile internet in the city center.
- The United Nations welcomed the unilateral pauses and urged a durable truce, as past holiday ceasefires have proved brief and hard to verify.