Russian soldiers in Moscow at the dress rehearsal on the march to Red Square.Image: keystone
May 7, 2026, 3:42 p.mMay 7, 2026, 3:42 p.m
Ahead of the traditional Victory Day in Moscow, Russia and Ukraine continued their drone war with unabated intensity. Ukraine abandoned a unilaterally declared ceasefire after a day and responded to continued Russian attacks with one of its largest drone strikes to date.
A ceasefire declared unilaterally by Russia is scheduled to come into force on Friday at dawn at midnight in Moscow (Thursday 11 p.m. CEST). The guns will be silent for two days as the country solemnly commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II in 1945.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.Image: keystone
This includes a military parade in front of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on Red Square on Saturday. In the event of disruptions from Ukraine, Moscow has threatened attacks on the center of the Ukrainian metropolis of Kiev. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on foreign diplomats to leave Kiev.
Moscow claims to have intercepted 347 Ukrainian drones
The Russian Defense Ministry said 347 enemy drones were intercepted overnight. These military figures cannot be independently verified; however, it is one of the highest numbers ever reported. Almost all regions in western and central Russia were affected. According to consistent reports from both sides, one target of the attack was in the city of Perm in the Urals – 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Image: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky justified the attacks, which were carried out despite the unilaterally declared ceasefire. “We have proposed a ceasefire from midnight on May 6th,” he wrote on social networks. «Yesterday and today this ceasefire was broken by Russia. The mirror-image reaction to the Russian attacks are our “long-range sanctions” – meaning drone attacks on the Russian hinterland.
“We have proposed a ceasefire from midnight on May 6th.”
Volodymyr Zelensky
Zelensky: Moscow is only concerned with a safe parade
At the same time, he said that if Moscow follows the path of diplomacy, Kiev will also do so. But Russia continues to kill people “while it is completely irrationally obsessed with a few hours of silence in one part of Moscow,” wrote Zelensky.
As on the previous day, according to the Kiev military, the Russian army also attacked with combat drones on Thursday night. The Ukrainian Air Force located 102 Russian drones, 92 of which were intercepted. There were impacts in six places. Injuries were reported from Kharkiv and Kherson, among others. The attacks continued into the morning. A ballistic missile was fired at the city of Dnipro.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.Image: sda
The Kremlin did not respond to the Ukrainian move
In the more than four years of the war of aggression ordered by Putin, there have been several ceasefires over high holidays, but Russia has always presented these as its decision. That’s why the Kremlin didn’t respond to the Ukrainian initiative this time either.
“There was no reaction from the Russian side,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov when asked how Moscow reacted to Kiev’s announcement of a ceasefire. At the same time, Peskov said that Russia would stick to its own announced ceasefire on May 8th and 9th.
Zelensky’s chief negotiator travels to the USA
Efforts to end the war are on hold, also because the USA, which sees itself as a mediator, is currently distracted by the Iran war. Nevertheless, the head of Ukraine’s National Security Council, Rustem Umyerov, is scheduled to travel to Florida this week to speak with Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy. (sda/dpa)