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Russia is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II
Russia is expected to begin a self-declared three-day hiatus in the fight against Ukraine on Wednesday night.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin proposed matching the three-day ceasefire with the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
But in doing so, Putin rejected much more important proposals from the Trump administration for a 30-day ceasefire and negotiations. This is a proposal accepted by Ukraine.
Zelensky refused Russia’s unilateral three-day ceasefire and said Ukraine would not guarantee the security of the celebration military parade in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9th.
The Russian proposal is met with widespread irony in Ukraine, and polls consistently suggest that around 95% of the population is distrustful of Russia.
“I don’t think there’s a ceasefire,” said 42-year-old Tetiana Kondratenko, the shopkeeper of Kochin Village, a massively bombarded area about six miles (10km) from the Russian border.
“The bombardment has been getting stronger recently. I’ve heard of the boom this half-day after the boom,” Kondratenko said in a phone interview.
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Ukraine’s Smie border area is highly bombarded by Russian troops
Zelensky is right to reject the proposal “as you know how they work, like what happened in Easter,” she added, referring to the Russians.
“They announced a ceasefire, and used it to bring in more equipment and launch an attack again. What kind of ceasefire is that?”
Last month, around Easter, Russia proposed a similar 30-hour hostilities, but was later accused by Ukraine of violating nearly 3,000 recommended ceasefires.
Instead of completely rejecting the proposal, he said Ukraine would reflect Russia’s actions.
A senior Ukrainian military officer told the BBC at the time that frontline units were ordered to halt fires on Russian positions, but would record evidence of Russian violations if necessary and return the fire.
By Wednesday, Ukrainian officials had not stated clearly whether to coordinate military operations for three days. Asked if the Ukrainian forces were planning to continue their military operations, a source from the presidential office told the BBC “We’ll see.”
From Novosofivka village, in a very badly hit area in Zaporidia, 35-year-old Antonina Sienina, the village of Novosofivka, in the area of Zaporidia, he said that a ceasefire that should involve “solid guarantees” for the security and sovereignty of Ukraine would not be included in Putin’s plans for the next three days.
However, Ms. Sienina had mixed feelings. Her parents were killed on a Russian strike, her brother was injured and her village was slammed, so she added that “it was not right to reject” the three-day proposal.
“To be honest, we’ll be happy for just one day without explosions. To take our kids somewhere, to a shopping mall, to playgrounds and some attractions,” she said.
“We dream of a war ending, or at least a temporary ceasefire, as my child is tired. Nerves, medicines, sleepless nights. That’s too much.”
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Zaporidia’s southeastern region of Ukraine has been repeatedly bombarded
Residents of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, continued to wake up early on Wednesday morning by Russian drone and missile attacks. The ballistic missile was successfully fired down by the air defense system, but the drone hit a block on the flat, killing the mother and son, and injuring at least six people, including the child.
The mayor of Moscow said Wednesday that Russian air defenses defeated Ukrainian drone 14 overnight. The Kremlin said the drone attacks have nothing to do with plans to suspend the three-day battle.
In most cases, suspensions are not taken seriously in Ukraine. Instead, it was greeted as a more propaganda exercise. Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pablo Krimkin told the BBC it was simply a show of another Russian power.
“This is about Russia framing the agenda on its own terms,” Krimkin said. “It has nothing to do with a real ceasefire. It’s all about messaging. Messages inside, messaging to the US, messages to Europe that we, Russia, are in control.”
Talks directed towards a rather ceasefire process began in February, when US President Donald Trump sent officials to negotiate separately with Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Ukraine has since agreed to the US proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Russia is not.
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Trump envoy Steve Witkov met Putin several times but was unable to secure a 30-day ceasefire
The next few months were a deadly wartime. Russia has been focusing on Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles, killing 19 people last month, including nine children, and 35 people killed on a playground at Krivii RIH and an Easter strike in Smee city a week later.
At least 848 civilians were killed between April 1 and 24, according to the United Nations. This was an increase of 46% in the same period last year.
The level of civilian death meant that even Russian should accept a ceasefire, said Olexii Kamchatni, 38, a scientist living in Kiev.
“It’s about saving lives,” Kamchatni said. “I am originally from Donbas, from Pokrovsk. I was able to evacuate my mother, but my dad stayed there. I had not contacted him since March 9th.”
Still, Kamchatni supported a temporary ceasefire, he said, “even if it gave up on territory.”
Ukrainian polls suggest that the majority will embrace the idea of giving control over the territory seized by the Russians during a full-scale invasion, but Anton Grasicki, director of the Kiev Institute for International Sociology, does not accused of formal sovereignty over the land.
“There’s certainly a lot of fatigue and a lot of desire to have a stable peace in Ukraine,” Grshikki said.
However, based on previous polls, the majority of Ukrainians are likely to view the proposed three-day ceasefire as “a trap or merely a trick to avoid attacks on Moscow during holidays.”
There is also suspicion among many Ukraine that the ceasefire proposal is a Russian ploy to move its troops to strategic locations on the battlefield, strengthen its troops when necessary, and prepare for an attack.
According to Mykhailo Samus, Ukrainian military analyst and director of the new Geopolitical Research Network, Ukraine was already clear that Ukraine was ready for a completely unconditional ceasefire and had no obligation to participate in the Russian agenda.
“Why do you play Putin’s game? We’re ready for a real ceasefire,” Samus said. “If he wants to organize the parade to show that he is a great leader, that’s his business.”
Daria Mitiuk contributed to this report.
