Putin ignores Zelensky's truce offer and continues to attack Ukraine

MoscowVladimir Putin has ignored the ceasefire offer proposed by Volodymyr Zelensky, which came into effect this Wednesday, just after midnight. Ukraine denounces that Russian drones have attacked several cities and caused casualties. According to Kyiv authorities, this shows that the Russian president rejects peace and that his invitation to stop attacks on Friday and Saturday only aims to secure Russia's Victory Day military parade this Saturday. Some voices within the Ukrainian government even advocate for not respecting the truce promoted by the Kremlin on its important holiday.

Russia has bombed Ukraine before and after the ceasefire came into effect. On Tuesday, during the hours leading up to the deadline, the Russian army carried out one of the deadliest attacks of the year, with at least 27 dead and 120 injured. And with the truce already underway, bombs continued to fall in the eastern regions of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, and Sumy this morning. In the latter, three women died: one initially, when a drone crashed into her car, and two more when two unmanned vehicles collided with a kindergarten. Russian bloggers are not hiding and argue without proof that the building actually housed a military command center.

Zelensky has lamented that, by 10 a.m., the Russian army had violated the ceasefire 1,820 times, with about twenty airstrikes and more than seventy bombs dropped on Ukrainian territory. The President of Ukraine has left the decision to adhere to the truce declared by Putin for May 8 and 9 up in the air, but has recalled that his soldiers "will act similarly" to the Russians. That is, if Moscow stops fighting, Kyiv will too. Nevertheless, he has insisted that "a large-scale war and the daily murder of people is a bad time for public celebrations," referring to the military parade in Red Square. Serhiy Sternenko, advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, believes that the Russian attacks are already sufficient reason to "annul" the ceasefire promoted by the Russian president and that, therefore, Ukraine should not feel obliged to support it, as Russia has not supported his either.

According to Zelensky, in recent weeks Russia has built additional air defense rings around Moscow and has redeployed some systems from other regions. The Ukrainian leader believes this is an indicator that Russian leaders are not preparing for a ceasefire "that has been the subject of so many declarations," but rather "are more concerned about their parade in Moscow than about the rest of Russia." At the same time, he points out that this creates "additional opportunities" for Kyiv to strike factories and energy facilities across the country.

Putin's silence and pride

Despite the fear that Ukrainian drones might ruin their party, Putin does not want to accept Zelensky's proposal, which would guarantee a peaceful sky on Victory Day, because it would imply ceding to his demands. So far, all truces observed throughout the war have been at the unilateral initiative of the Russian leader, and the Ukrainian president has reluctantly joined in not to upset Donald Trump.

Both the Russian president and his entourage maintain an unusual silence. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not appeared for three days and has not even commented on the latest events affecting the security of the celebration of the Soviet Victory Day over Nazi Germany. No mention of the Ukrainian ceasefire, no mention of the drone that hit a skyscraper a few kilometers from Red Square on Monday, and no mention of the chaos in the city due to internet outages.

On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense is trying to accuse Ukraine of violating its own ceasefire. In its latest report, it states that since nine o'clock on Tuesday night, 53 Ukrainian aircraft have been shot down over Russian regions. However, it does not specify how many were flying beyond midnight. Crimean authorities have also reported the deaths of five people caused by a Ukrainian drone, but have not clarified whether the cessation of hostilities had entered into force at that time or not. 

Be that as it may, for the spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rodion Miroshnik, this demonstrates "Zelensky's inability to implement his ceasefire declarations." In statements to the TASS agency, he assures that the Ukrainian leader is "trying to organize a kind of political show of the KVN" – a historic Russian comedy television program, whose acronym can be translated as the club of funny and witty people – with the aim of counter-programming Putin's unilateral truce.