Ukraine, Russia trade attacks despite 'ceasefire'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday called Russia's unilateral ceasefire announcement "not even a token attempt."

"As we did over the past 24 hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well," Zelensky wrote on X.

Over the course of last night, the Russian army continued to strike Ukrainian positions. As of 7 a.m., more than 140 strikes on frontline positions had been recorded. During the night, the Russians carried out 10 assaults, the largest number of them in the Slovyansk sector. They…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 8, 2026

Ukraine criticized Russian leader Vladimir Putin for only announcing the ceasefire so that he would be able to hold the Victory Day Parade over Nazi Germany in Moscow. Zelenskyy also said Russia carried out hundreds of attacks on the front line using short-range drones.

Kyiv said Moscow ignored a Ukrainian counter-proposal to halt fighting earlier this week, Zelensky had cast the Ukrainian proposal as a test of whether the Kremlin was serious about providing a brief respite in the four-year war.

But already on Wednesday, Ukraine said that Russia had shown no will to stop fighting, by attacking Ukrainian cities overnight with more than 100 combat drones and three missiles.

At least 27 people were killed and dozens more injured in Russian strikes across eastern Ukraine late on Tuesday night.

President Zelenskyy said one attack in the city of Poltava was "especially vile" because Russia launched a second missile at the same target when emergency rescuers were working at the scene.

Russia says army responding 'symmetrically' to Ukraine attacks

Russia's army said it was responding "symmetrically" to Ukrainian attacks.

This comes during Moscow's unilateral two-day ceasefire, which Ukraine never agreed to, blaming Russia for only wanting a halt in fighting so that it would be able to celebrate an extravagant Victory Day parade over Nazi Germany in its capital.

According to Russia's Defense Ministry, Ukraine shot hundreds of drones and carried out artillery strikes on the front line.

The threat of Ukrainian attacks also resulted in more than a dozen airports in southern Russia being closed, according to the country's aviation authorities.

Earlier, Russia threatened that any attempt to disrupt the Parade in Moscow will be answered by a heavy attack.