🗓️ On May 4, 2026, Moscow unilaterally declared a ceasefire for May 8–9 – to mark the 81st anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

⚡ Putin had floated the idea during a phone call with Trump the previous week.

🇺🇦 Zelensky responded that he had received “no official request” from Moscow, and announced Ukraine’s own ceasefire, effective from midnight on May 5.

🗓️ The Ukrainian ceasefire took effect Wednesday, May 6 – but Russia didn’t honor it, with an attack reported in the Zaporizhzhia region and alerts across six eastern regions.

🎯 Moscow threatened a “massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if Ukraine disrupted the May 9 parade on Red Square, calling on civilians and diplomats to evacuate the Ukrainian capital.

🚁 From the very start of the Russian ceasefire (midnight, May 8), Moscow claimed to have shot down 264 Ukrainian drones in 7 hours across some ten regions, including Moscow itself.

🔄 Zelensky accused Russia of making “not even a symbolic attempt” at a ceasefire on the front line, adding that Russian forces launched over 850 drones overnight.

🔥 A drone sparked a fire in the Chernobyl reserve on May 8 – 1,100 hectares burning, firefighters hampered by strong gusts.

Both sides declared their own ceasefire on different dates, immediately accused each other of violations, and the fighting never stopped.