A Russian drone hit a kindergarten in northern Ukraine, and Moscow launched scores of drones and missiles across the country, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of ignoring a Kyiv-proposed cease-fire.
The new attacks on May 6 came a day after a wider barrage on several Ukrainian cities — Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya, Kramatorsk — that killed more than two dozen people.
For its part, Ukraine targeted a Russian weapons factory in a central region located more than 1,200 kilometers from the border, using its homegrown long-range cruise missile known as the Flamingo.
The scope of the damage at the VNIIR-Progress plant — which makes navigational systems for missiles — was unclear; local authorities said two people died in the attack, which also included Ukrainian drones.
Zelenskyy had proposed a cease-fire, beginning at midnight May 6, as a counterproposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who announced a cease-fire for May 8 and 9, coinciding with Victory Day.
The Kremlin did not respond publicly to Zelenskyy’s proposal.
The holiday, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, has become a celebration of Soviet, and Russian, military might.
This year, however, the annual Red Square parade has been scaled back, amid fears of Ukrainian drones targeting the events. A small handful of foreign dignitaries will be present, and there will be column of military weaponry or vehicles as usual.
Kindergarten Attack
Two people were killed at a kindergarten building in Sumy, in northern Ukraine, when the building was hit by a Russian drone, officials said. There were no children in the school at the time.
In total, Russia launched more than 110 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukrainian targets across the country, Ukrainian officials said.
“This shows that Russia rejects peace and its fake calls for a cease-fire on May 9 have nothing to do with diplomacy,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said in a post to X. “Putin only cares about military parades, not human lives.”
In a statement to Telegram, Zelenskyy said that officials would decide on “further actions” in response to the Russian attacks.
Earlier this week, a drone believed to be Ukraine’s hit a luxury high-rise skyscraper just a few kilometers from the Kremlin.
The drone caused no injuries, but the fact that it evaded numerous antiaircraft defenses around the Russian capital was seen as a failure.
