Ukraine promises 'mirror responses' after Moscow bombs infrastructure ahead of May 9

"It is absolute cynicism to ask for silence to hold propaganda celebrations and to launch such missile and drone strikes on all the days leading up to it," the head of state highlighted.

Zelenskyy announced "mirror responses" to the Russian attacks on Ukraine.

"Russia can cease fire any day, and this will stop the war and our responses," he noted.

"Peace is needed, and real steps are required for this. Ukraine will act in a mirror manner."

The main targets of Russia overnight on May 5 were Ukraine's energy infrastructure facilities, according to him.

In Poltava Oblast, in particular, the Russians "very vilely struck repeatedly with a missile when State Emergency Service workers were already on-site extinguishing the fire."

Among other Russian targets that night:

• Kharkiv Oblast: one person killed, four injured

• Dnipropetrovsk Oblast: critical infrastructure was attacked, power lines were damaged in Pavlohrad, thousands of families were left without electricity, three injured

• Zaporizhzhya and Kyiv oblasts: suffered strikes, three people injured.

Russian Defense Ministry announced on the evening of May 4 that a "ceasefire is declared" for May 8 and 9, and threatened massive strikes on the center of Kyiv if Ukraine tries to "disrupt the Victory Day celebrations." The department cynically stated that it had supposedly "refrained" from striking central Kyiv "for humanitarian reasons" earlier.

In response, Zelenskyy reported that Ukraine had not received any official requests for a ceasefire but is declaring a regime of silence from midnight on the night of May 5 to May 6.

The head of state earlier said that Ukrainian drones could appear over the May 9 parade in Moscow.

The May 9 parade on Red Square in Moscow will take place without military equipment for the first time since 2022, featuring only a marching column. The number of guests will decrease to a few hundred people instead of the usual thousands, and the parade itself will last less than an hour.