“The ceasefire should not be just for a few days, only to return to killing afterward. It must be immediate, full, and unconditional, for at least 30 days to ensure it is secure and guaranteed. This is the foundation that could lead to real diplomacy,” Zelenskyy added.
Putin’s troops violated their own one-day ceasefire on Easter within hours, and blamed Ukraine, while his forces resumed a full-scale bombing campaign almost immediately after the Christian holiday.
May 9, marking the triumph over Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, has become a core symbol of Russia’s modern militaristic ideology. Putin has a list of top global guests coming to Moscow’s parade, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
“Putin needs a ceasefire on May 8-11 so he doesn’t have to hide Xi and other honorable guests in Lenin’s mausoleum from Ukrainian drones,” Anatoliy Amelin, CEO and founder of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future think tank, said in a post on Facebook.
Even though the Russian army has the upper hand on the battlefield, steadily pushing Ukrainians out of the eastern Donetsk region, Kyiv has conducted a successful bombing campaign against Russia’s military facilities and oil depots — as well as against top Russian army officers.
Ukraine has also struck Moscow with drones multiple times in the three years since Russia started its full-scale invasion. One drone fell on the Kremlin’s roof in May 2023. The latest major attack on Moscow took place last month, with Russian air defenses shooting down at least 91 drones over the capital.
