Ukraine war latest: Kyiv rejects Russia's 'Victory Day' truce after Moscow violates ceasefire
on Google
Key developments on May 6:
- Ukraine rejects Russia's 'Victory Day' truce after Moscow violates Kyiv's ceasefire
- 'Putin only cares about parades' — Russia violated Kyiv-proposed May 6 ceasefire 1,820 times, Ukraine says
- Russian attacks on Ukrainian first responders rise, follow 'sustained pattern,' report finds
- Russian attacks kill 26 civilians, injure at least 118 over past day, as Zelensky's proposed ceasefire kicks off
Ukraine sees no reason to observe a ceasefire proposed by Russia for its Victory Day celebrations, a senior Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent on May 6.
"We just don't see the point (to follow it) for the parade," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to comment publicly, said.
The comment came after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had violated a Ukrainian-proposed ceasefire 1,820 times by 10 a.m. local time, hours after it took effect.
Zelensky said on May 4 that Ukraine would implement a ceasefire starting May 6, after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a separate "Victory Day ceasefire" on May 8–9.
Moscow earlier scaled back its planned Victory Day parade, an annual showcase of its projected military strength, amid fears of potential Ukrainian attacks.
Ceasefires throughout the war, often proposed by Moscow during religious holidays, have never held. Russia violated the previous truce during Orthodox Easter 10,721 times over a 32-hour period in April, Ukraine's General Staff said.
'Putin only cares about parades' — Russia violated Kyiv-proposed May 6 ceasefire 1,820 times, Ukraine says
Russia violated Kyiv's proposed ceasefire which started at midnight a total of 1,820 times by 10 a.m. local time, Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 6.
Zelensky's statement comes after he said on May 4 that Ukraine would declare a ceasefire beginning at midnight on May 6, following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a temporary two-day "Victory Day ceasefire" on May 8–9.
Moscow had not agreed to Kyiv's proposed ceasefire, which was set to start on May 6. Zelensky argued that his proposed timeframe would be enough to test whether a genuine pause in fighting could take hold.
The violations, Zelensky said, include Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, attempted assaults, and drone strikes. Russia launched deadly strikes across Ukraine over the past day, particularly targeting Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro.
Russian forces attacked Ukraine with two ballistic missiles, a Kh-31 air-to-surface missile, and 108 drones of various types, including Shahed, overnight, the Air Force said on May 6. It reported downing 89 drones over northern and eastern Ukraine, while the rest struck eight undisclosed locations.
Moscow has also accused Kyiv of breaching its own ceasefire. Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said Ukraine had launched attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea and Russia's Bryansk Oblast, Kremlin-controlled news agency TASS cited him as saying on May 6.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted or downed 53 Ukrainian drones overnight over Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Moscow oblasts, as well as over the occupied Crimea and over the Black Sea.
Kyiv has not reacted to Moscow's accusation at the time of publication. Zelensky has not commented on whether Ukraine withheld its own ceasefire on the battlefield and elsewhere.
Russian attacks on Ukrainian first responders rise, follow 'sustained pattern,' report finds
Russian forces have carried out at least 401 attacks on Ukrainian emergency responders since 2022, killing 43 rescuers and injuring 258, with incidents increasing over time and peaking in 2025, according to a report released by Truth Hounds on May 6.
The findings add to a broader pattern of Russian strikes on civilian sites, with emergency responders increasingly coming under fire while responding to their aftermath.
The report describes the trend as a "deeply troubling trajectory in the war," finding a sustained pattern in which responders are repeatedly targeted while carrying out rescue operations, including after arriving at strike sites.
Drones became the dominant weapon in such attacks in 2024–2025, with 118 drone-related incidents recorded in 2025 alone – nearly three times more than in 2024 and over 15 times higher than in 2023, according to Truth Hounds.
The report notes that many drones provide real-time video, meaning emergency responders "wear distinctive uniforms and operate clearly marked vehicles that visibly identify them as emergency services personnel," which "strengthens the inference" that some attacks were intentional.
Researchers also identified widespread use of "double-tap" strikes, in which a second strike targets responders arriving after an initial attack. Truth Hounds documented 200 such incidents and verified 92, which caused at least 20 deaths and 108 injuries among emergency personnel.
The report also documents repeated strikes on fire stations, with 138 incidents recorded. In most analyzed cases, no military facility was identified within 300 meters, supporting the inference that the stations themselves may have been the intended targets.
Most incidents occurred in frontline regions, particularly Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson oblasts, though attacks were also recorded farther from active fighting.
Russian attacks kill 26 civilians, injure at least 118 over past day, as Zelensky's proposed ceasefire kicks off
Russian strikes on Ukraine killed 26 civilians and injured at least 118 others over the past day, regional authorities said on May 6.
Russia launched deadly strikes across Ukraine over the past day, particularly targeting Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro, as a ceasefire announced by Volodymyr Zelensky came into effect at midnight on May 6.
Russian forces attacked Ukraine with two ballistic missiles, a Kh-31 air-to-surface missile, and 108 drones of various types, including Shahed-type drones, overnight, the Air Force said on May 6. It reported downing 89 drones over northern and eastern Ukraine, while the rest struck eight undisclosed locations.
The deadliest attack occurred in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, where Russian troops attacked civilian infrastructure with guided aerial bombs (KABs), regional governor Ivan Fedorov reported on May 5.
At least 12 were killed and 43 people, aged 20 to 66, were wounded, Fedorov said. Eighteen of the injured remain in hospital, including four in serious condition, he reported on the morning of May 6.
Russian attacks wounded 49 people total in Zaporizhzhia and its surrounding region over the past day, Fedorov said on May 6.
"This was an absolutely cynical terrorist strike, with no military justification whatsoever," Zelensky said on X, condemning the Russian KAB attack on Zaporizhzhia and other attacks.
In the central-eastern city of Dnipro, an hour-and-a-half drive north of Zaporizhzhia, four people were killed and 19 others were wounded in a Russian attack on May 5, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported on May 6. He said 13 of the injured remain hospitalized, including four in serious condition.
In northeastern Sumy Oblast, a Russian drone strike on a car killed a 69-year-old woman and wounded a 66-year-old man, the regional military administration reported on May 6. Six more people were wounded in the region by Russian drone and KAB attacks, according to the administration.
On the morning of May 6, two Russian drones struck a civilian building in central Sumy, regional governor Oleh Hryhorov reported. The city authorities said that it was a kindergarten's building.
In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and its surrounding region, 17 people, including two kids, were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 6.
In eastern Donetsk Oblast, six people were killed, and 14 others were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Vadym Filashkin reported on May 6.
In southern Kherson Oblast, a person was killed, and 12 others were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, the regional military administration reported on May 6.
