Russia broke a ceasefire moments after it started, Ukraine to act \u201cin kind,\u201d Zelenskyi says. ISW explains what\u2019s behind Russia\u2019s threat to retaliate against Ukraine\u2019s allegedly planned strikes on May 9. The EU and Ukraine will create a new drone alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia launched attacks on Ukraine overnight, using drones and glide bombs, shortly after a ceasefire initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi started at midnight on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout the night, the Ukrainian Air Force issued a drone alert to the city of Pavlohrad in the region of Dnipro and to the cities of Kharkiv, Izyum and Vilshany in Kharkiv region as well as a glide bomb alert to the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explosions rocked the city of Dnipro overnight on Wednesday as Shahed drones reportedly targeted the city, Ukrainska Pravda said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two women were killed when a kindergarten in Sumy was hit on Wednesday morning. They were employees of the facility, head of the regional military administration, Oleh Hryhorov said in a post to social media. No children were present at the time. Seven more people were injured in the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A drone hit a civilian car in the wider Sumy community on Wednesday morning, killing a passenger and injuring the vehicle\u2019s driver, Hryhorov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyi said in a post to X that Russia had violated a ceasefire announced by Ukraine at midnight on Wednesday. Ukraine will act accordingly, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter yesterday\u2019s savage strikes against our cities and communities \u2013 Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk, and others \u2013 the Russian army continued active hostilities and terrorist shelling throughout this day as well. Russia\u2019s choice is an obvious spurning of a ceasefire and of saving lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAssaults continue across all key sections of the front, and since the start of this day alone, the Russian army has already carried out nearly 30 assaults. More than 20 air strikes using over 70 aerial bombs have been recorded just overnight and this morning,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUkraine clearly stated that it would act in kind, taking into account Russia\u2019s persistent appeals through the media and social networks asking for a ceasefire during the Moscow parade. It is obvious to any reasonable person that a full-scale war and the daily murdering of people are a bad time for public \u2018celebrations\u2019,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs of today, we can confirm that the Russian side has disrupted the ceasefire regime,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s threat to retaliate against Ukraine for allegedly planned strikes against Moscow during Victory Day reflects Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s recognition that he cannot reliably defend these deep rear areas, including his capital, from Ukrainian strikes, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an update on Tuesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin\u2019s insistence on holding the May 9 Victory Day parade reflects his refusal to accept the reality that Ukraine has brought Putin\u2019s war back to Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian strikes continue to increasingly impact other areas deep within Russia. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) simultaneously closed airports in 15 Russian cities on May 5 and introduced restrictions at all four Moscow City airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Governor Ruslan Kukharuk announced an airstrike alert for the okrug on May 5 \u2014 the first for the okrug after almost four years of war. Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is over 2,000 kilometers from the international border with Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russians are increasingly feeling the strain of the war effort after over four years of fighting as casualties approach one percent of Russia\u2019s total population, Russians increasingly bear the financial cost of the war, and the Kremlin intensifies its censorship and mobile data restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian ultranationalist milbloggers, a component of Putin\u2019s main constituency of Russian ultranationalists, are increasingly criticizing the Kremlin and even Putin himself for failing to recognize this reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Russian milblogger criticized the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) for making its May 4 threat against Kyiv not due to Ukraine\u2019s deep strike campaign against Russian military, defense industrial, and oil infrastructure but rather for the alleged threat against the May 9 Victory Day parade, accusing the MoD of prioritizing \u201cvanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s intensified strike campaign has exploited the large attack surface of Russia\u2019s deep rear and the wide footprint of Russia infrastructure, particularly defense industrial and oil infrastructure, forcing the Kremlin to make difficult decisions about how to allocate air defense assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin is refusing to accept the reality of increasing Ukrainian strikes against major Russian cities in the deep rear, and Russians are increasingly bearing the costs of his war as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other news, Russia said earlier this week it would hold a ceasefire on May 8 and 9 ahead of commemorations Saturday to mark the Soviet Union\u2019s victory over Nazi Germany. Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said any efforts by Ukraine to disrupt the Victory Day parade would prompt a \u201cretaliatory, massive missile attack\u201d on the center of Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe warn the civilian population of Kyiv and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of the need to leave the city promptly,\u201d the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. It added that Russia had refrained from attacks on central Kyiv so far \u201cout of humanitarian concerns.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s May 9 parade will be held without military hardware and will feature a column of troops from military academies and the armed forces marching on foot. Several hundred guests are expected to attend the gathering as opposed to thousands in the previous years. The parade will last under an hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU and Ukraine will create a new drone alliance as part of efforts to bolster Europe\u2019s military capabilities in the critical field, the European Commission said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also said it had launched a call for expressions of interest for founding members of the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance. The alliance is supposed to \u201cstrengthen the EU\u2019s and Ukraine\u2019s security and defence by fostering an innovative defence drone-industrial ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The alliance follows President Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s 2025 State of the European Union address, where she announced measures to counter the growing threat of drone warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance will support the development of advanced drone and counter-drone technologies. As an industry-led ecosystem, it will contribute to European efforts to build a comprehensive drone and counter-drone capability, building on the Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030 and the Commission’s Action Plan on Drone and Counter Drone Security,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founding members will be selected from applicants with experience in the EU and Ukrainian defense drone ecosystem. They will form the first Board of the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance and play a key role in shaping the Alliance\u2019s activities and priorities, the European Commission said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Alliance is expected to be launched in the coming months, with applications open until 25 May 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"