Russia has reported that it repelled a drone attack on Moscow as the capital city prepares to host a major military parade with foreign leaders in attendance.
Russia’s air defence systems intercepted “four drones flying towards Moscow”, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday. The attack appears intended to unsettle Moscow’s preparations for events marking the end of the Great Patriotic War, commonly known as World War II elsewhere, on May 9.
President Vladimir Putin has called for a 72-hour ceasefire to mark the occasion starting on May 8. However, Ukraine has demanded instead a 30-day truce aimed at agreeing to a permanent ceasefire in the conflict that began when Russia invaded in February 2022.
Sobyanin said in a post on Telegram that there were no reports of injuries or damage.
However, the attack did prompt a brief halt to air traffic at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. Aviation regulator Rosaviatsia confirmed flights were suspended for about 90 minutes overnight to ensure air safety.
Elsewhere, Russian officials said 17 drones were downed over the Bryansk region and five more over Kaluga.
‘Cynicism of the highest order’
The Kremlin has branded Putin’s declaration of a three-day unilateral ceasefire a humanitarian gesture.
Military operations will be paused during the truce, according to Russian authorities, as world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, are expected in Moscow.
However, Russia has rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposal, accepted by the United States, which is trying to broker an end to the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also dismissed the 72-hour truce, which came as US President Donald Trump suggested he is growing frustrated with Moscow’s failure to agree on a ceasefire, as “unserious”.
He accused Moscow of “playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere to allow for Putin’s exit from isolation on May 9”.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine could not guarantee the safety of any foreign dignitaries, adding that Russia was responsible for its own security.
“The Russians are asking for a ceasefire on May 9 and are themselves firing at Ukraine every day. This is cynicism of the highest order,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.
Putin said in his original declaration of the 72-hour pause in the fighting that Russian forces would respond if the country was fired upon.
Kyiv targeted
Russia has continued to bombard Ukraine despite its proposed ceasefire from May 8.
On Monday, Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 42 of 116 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack.
At least 11 people, including two children, were injured in the capital, Kyiv, during the attack, Timur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv city military administration, said on social media.
Cherkasy in central Ukraine was also targeted. Emergency services reported that one person was injured and residential buildings and civil infrastructure were damaged.
Meanwhile, war bloggers reported on Monday that Ukrainian forces have attacked Russia’s western Kursk region – a portion of which they occupied for months before being ejected last month, according to Russia’s military.
Firing missiles, Ukraine’s forces were reported by several sources to have smashed through the border.
There was no immediate comment from either Russia or Ukraine, but Russian war bloggers published maps showing Ukrainian forces trying to push over the border in two places.
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