“We simply do not see any point in observing it for the sake of the parade,” the source said, referring to the Victory Day parade Russian dictator Vladimir Putin plans to hold in Moscow on May 9.
However, a source within the Ukrainian government later told the BBC that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had not yet made a final decision regarding May 9.
“The president has not yet decided on May 9. He makes decisions in such conditions day by day. If they attacked today, then we will respond tomorrow as well,” the source said.
Zelenskyy said earlier that Russia had committed 1,820 violations of the ceasefire regime initiated by Ukraine as of 10 a.m. on May 6.
“As of today, we can state that the Russian side has disrupted the ceasefire regime. We will determine our further actions based on evening reports from our military and intelligence,” Zelenskyy wrote.
The Ukrainian president also stressed that Ukraine would act symmetrically in response to what he described as “persistent Russian appeals through the media and social networks asking for silence during the Moscow parade.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on May 4 that a “ceasefire” would be introduced on May 8 and 9 and threatened massive strikes on central Kyiv if Ukraine attempted to “disrupt Victory Day celebrations.”
In response, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had not received any official ceasefire proposals from Moscow but would still introduce a silence regime beginning at midnight between May 5 and May 6.
Russian forces nevertheless attacked infrastructure facilities overnight in Zaporizhzhya and Kryvyi Rih. Residential buildings were also hit in Kharkiv.