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.
Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, stressed that Kyiv is “genuinely interested” in an unconditional ceasefire, not “a temporary one whose sole goal is to guarantee for Putin holding military parade,” after which Russia would continue launching indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
Merezhko suggested that Putin’s only goal in proposing the May 8-9 ceasefire is to avoid “humiliating disruption” of the May 9 military parade in Moscow.
“Such an offer is a sign of weakness and panic on the part of Putin,” Merezhko told the Kyiv Independent.
“Putin’s nightmare is to have the military parade disrupted or spoiled, which will send to the Russian population a signal that Putin is weak, he is losing the war, and is unable to guarantee safety for Russians.”
Upon announcing a May 6 ceasefire earlier, Zelensky said on May 4 that Ukraine had still not received an official appeal from Moscow outlining the terms of the ceasefire that Russian officials have publicly discussed.
Zelensky argued that the Kyiv-proposed ceasefire from May 6, to which Moscow has not agreed, would be enough to test whether a genuine pause in fighting could take hold.
“We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary’ celebration,'” Zelensky wrote on May 4, referring to Russia’s upcoming Victory Day commemorations.
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.
Kyiv has not reacted to Moscow’s accusation at the time of publication.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry echoed Zelensky’s condemnation of Moscow for breaching the ceasefire.
“Moscow once again ignored a realistic and fair call to end hostilities, supported by other states and international organizations,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
“This shows that Russia rejects peace and its fake calls for a ceasefire on May 9th have nothing to do with diplomacy,” he added.
“Putin only cares about military parades, not human lives.”