Jessica Lawnsley and Victoria Bourne
BBC News
EPA
Russian military will take part in military parade rehearsals to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany in World War II
Russia and Ukraine traded a barrage of strikes overnight on Tuesday within a day before Russia’s proposed ceasefire began.
Most of Moscow’s airports were forced to close in response to strikes, as Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders were scheduled to arrive in the Russian capital for the World War II victory parade.
Vladimir Putin is calling for a three-day ceasefire to coincide with the event that begins on May 8th. Kyiv rejected the idea as “theatrical play” and repeated the call for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
At least two people died in Kiev on Tuesday night, authorities said.
Debris from the destroyed drone caused fire to apartments and buildings in three districts of Kiev on Tuesday night, killing a woman and son from the Shevchen Kibsky district and injuring seven more people.
Zelensky said Russia fired four ballistic missiles and 142 drones overnight in Ukraine. Emergency services are available nationwide, including Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Kherson and Dnipro regions.
In a statement on X, the Ukrainian president called for “stronger sanctions” against Russia, saying that he “must be held responsible for its actions.”
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defense forces had destroyed at least 14 Ukrainian drones. No damages have been reported.
It was the third consecutive night that Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Moscow, the second night when the city’s major airport was forced to close for several hours.
AFP News Agency reports that at least 350 flights have been delayed or cancelled in Russia.
The ceasefire proposed by Putin last month is scheduled to begin on May 8th (22:00 BST on May 7th) at 00:00 local time. It will coincide with a massive military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of World War II.
Many world leaders will be taking part in an event in Moscow’s Red Square, which includes Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Vietnamese President Lam and Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro.
Russia has announced that Serbian President Alexander Vic is one of the 29 leaders attended. Brussels issued a warning to VUCIC that attendees would undermine Serbia’s accession negotiations.
EPA
The 29 world leaders are scheduled to attend a parade in Moscow’s Red Square on Friday
Earlier this month, Zesesky warned that Ukraine cannot guarantee the safety of anyone traveling to Moscow for the parade. “We cannot be held responsible for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian news agency Interfax reported he was saying.
He called Putin’s ceasefire proposal a “game” designed to protect the “operation” and ceremony.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry warned against the participation of foreign forces, calling it “unacceptable” and helped Moscow “whitewash war crimes.”
China has dispatched 102 soldiers – the largest foreign military contingent of the 13 participating countries – to participate.
Xi Jinping will become a guest of celebration honor. The Chinese president welcomed Russia-China’s “resilient” relationship on the eve of his expected visit in an article in Russia’s Rosiskaya Gazeta newspaper on Wednesday.
“Both sides should jointly resist attempts to hamper and undermine China-Russia’s friendship and mutual trust,” he wrote.
The two countries are expected to sign a number of agreements to strengthen their “no-restriction” partnerships during Jinping’s four-day visit. China and Russia have come closer since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, represented by deepening military and trade ties.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin praised China-Russia relations as a “real example” of cooperation, adding that it is “at the highest point.”
The May 9th victory parade celebrates Nazi Germany’s surrender to the Soviet Union in 1945 during World War II.
It is Russia’s most important holiday, with President Putin repeatedly evoking victory to unite Russian society in the wake of the Ukrainian invasion, bringing out similarities to the battle with the Nazis.
Kiev and Europe rejected the glory of Putin’s story and the role of Russia in defeating Nazi Germany.
“These people are not liberators of Europe, they are occupyers and war criminals,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Yuriy Savchuk, director of the Ukrainian War Museum, told AFP that World War I and “the war of today” were all “fighting for the conflicts we fought for the right to the existence of our people, the rights of Ukrainians to establish themselves as people.”
Europe and Ukraine will mark the VE date on May 8th.
Easter’s past 30-hour ceasefires have repeatedly collapsed, with both Russia and Ukraine slamming multiple violations against each other.
Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Southern Crimea Peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
