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Russia Snubs Ukraine's Ceasefire 05/06 06:10
Russia fired dozens of drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks, Ukrainian
officials said Wednesday, disregarding a unilateral ceasefire announced by Kyiv
that began at midnight.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russia fired dozens of drones at Ukraine in nighttime
attacks, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, disregarding a unilateral
ceasefire announced by Kyiv that began at midnight.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine hadn't abided by its own
ceasefire, saying that air defenses shot down 53 Ukrainian drones over Russian
regions, the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea between
Tuesday evening and dawn Wednesday.
Five people were killed by a Ukrainian drone strike on the city of Dzhankoi
in Crimea, according to Russia-installed Gov. Sergei Aksyonov. He reported the
casualties just after midnight, but posted about the attack itself more than 90
minutes earlier.
There had been no official sign from Moscow that it would heed Kyiv's
ceasefire, and there was little hope for a pause in hostilities as the war
stretches into its fifth year following Russia's all-out invasion of its
neighbor. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the war over the past year have
come to nothing.
On Tuesday, Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine killed 27 people
and wounded 120 others, all of them civilians, according to Ukrainian Interior
Minister Ihor Klymenko. The war has killed more than 15,000 civilians,
according to the United Nations.
"After yesterday's savage strikes against our cities and communities ... the
Russian army continued active hostilities and terrorist shelling throughout
this day as well," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday on X.
"Russia's choice is an obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives."
Despite Kyiv's open-ended suspension of hostilities, Russia has continued
shelling, with aerial strikes using drones and powerful glide bombs, and has
attempted to break through Ukrainian defenses on the front line, Zelenskyy said.
"Russia must end the war it is currently waging," he said, urging Moscow to
call off its invasion. "The Russian side has our diplomatic proposals, and the
only thing needed is Russia's willingness to move toward real peace."
Both sides have kept up long-range strike campaigns. On the roughly
1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line, meanwhile, Russia's bigger army remains
engaged in a slow-moving and costly slog against Ukraine's drone-heavy defenses.
Zelenskyy had announced the unilateral ceasefire after Russia said it would
hold its own pause of hostilities over two days later this week while it marks
the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The
Ukrainian leader said any breach of the ceasefire would trigger a military
response.
European officials had welcomed Ukraine's unilateral move as a goodwill
gesture illustrating its readiness for a peace settlement.
Russian forces launched 108 drones and three missiles overnight, Ukrainian
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, with attacks continuing throughout the
night and into Wednesday morning.
"Moscow once again ignored a realistic and fair call to end hostilities,
supported by other states and international organizations," Sybiha said in a
post on X.
Moscow's proposal to stop fighting on Friday and Saturday follows a pattern
of Russia declaring short unilateral ceasefires during the war timed to
coincide with various holidays, most recently Orthodox Easter.
Those suspensions of combat don't produce any tangible results amid deep
mistrust between the warring sides.
Sybiha said Russia's actions exposed its calls for a separate ceasefire
around May 9 as insincere. "Putin only cares about military parades, not human
lives," he said.
The diplomat called for increased international pressure on Moscow,
including new sanctions, diplomatic isolation, accountability measures for war
crimes and expanded military and civilian support for Ukraine.
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