Russia says its air defence units have intercepted and destroyed more than 50 drones heading for Moscow yesterday, just hours before Vladimir Putin’s celebrations of Victory Day began.
Ceasefire and Drone Attacks
Putin has sought a three-day ceasefire starting at midnight from 7 May until 10 May to hold a parade in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. But the Moscow mayor said more than 50 drones were downed between 11am yesterday and 2am in the early hours today, in addition to 95 Ukrainian drones being intercepted over a four-hour period ending at midnight in various regions of central and southern Russia.
Zelensky's Response
In Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin’s proclamation of a limited ceasefire showed his “strange and inappropriate” logic. Moscow wants "to hold their parade, to go out onto the square safely for an hour once a year, and then continue killing, killing our people and waging war", Zelensky said. Russia also violated the Ukraine-led ceasefire which started on Wednesday and killed more than a dozen people in strikes across the country.
Briefing: What we know on the 1,534th day of Ukraine war
- With hours to go for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russian officials say more than 50 drones headed for the capital have been destroyed and nearly 100 drones attacked Russia till midnight
- Ukraine’s Zelensky calls out “strange and inappropriate” logic of Putin to hold his “parade, to go out onto the square safely for an hour once a year, and then continue killing, killing our people and waging war”
- Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, lands in Miami for meetings with US negotiators on moving toward a peace accord, Zelensky says
Arpan Rai, 8 May 2026 04:09 BST
