Russia shows “not even token attempt” to cease fire despite own truce – Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russian forces have continued their assaults, attacks, and large-scale drone strikes since the Kremlin announced its so-called “ceasefire.”

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The head of the Ukrainian state said that over the course of last night, the Russian army continued to strike Ukrainian positions.

“As of 7 a.m., more than 140 strikes on frontline positions had been recorded. During the night, the Russians carried out 10 assaults, the largest number of them in the Sloviansk sector. They also launched more than 850 strikes with drones of various types – FPVs, Lancets, and others. There were attack drones as well. The use of reconnaissance drones in the skies over frontline communities also did not stop,” the President said.

Zelenskyy stressed that all of this clearly shows there was “not even a token attempt to cease fire on the front” from the Russian side.

“As we did over the past 24 hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well. We will defend our positions and people’s lives. Russia must end its war, and everyone will truly see it when movement toward peace begins,” he added.

Marking the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism, observed across Europe on 8 May, the Ukrainian President said that 81 years after the end of the most devastating war of the 20th century – World War II – Ukraine is once again forced to confront total evil, a renewed version of Nazism embodied today by Russia.

“Unfortunately, 81 years later, we are once again forced to stop evil – evil that is just as absolute. Evil that brings nothing but ruins and abuse. And evil based on a similar ideology of enmity. An updated version of Nazism, marked: made in Russia,” he said.

Zelenskyy recalled that World War II turned Ukrainian land into “a battlefield of brutal fighting, abuse in occupied territory, and the mass destruction of people and life”.

“The losses of the Ukrainian people were among the greatest in World War II. And the contribution of Ukrainians to the defeat of the Nazis was also among the greatest. Millions of Ukrainians, serving in various armies of the Anti-Hitler Coalition states, fought against Nazism. Millions of Ukrainians were among the victors, having done everything in their power to ensure that absolute evil was defeated,” Zelenskyy said.

He added that today the united free world can and must overcome Russian aggression.

The President thanked everyone who is helping Ukraine defend lives and prevent the Russian regime from being able to “dictate to the world what comes next”.

“Defending people’s lives and the freedom of nations from Putin is an absolutely dignified way to honour the memory of those who did not allow Hitler to subjugate Europe and the world,” Zelenskyy concluded.

Earlier, he stated that Russia had violated the ceasefire introduced by Kyiv from the beginning of May 6, adding that Ukraine would respond in kind.

On May 4, Ukrainian President announced the introduction of a ceasefire, set to begin at exactly 12 a.m. on May 6. Russia did not respond to the proposal and continued military operations and strikes against Ukraine.

Earlier that day, Russia’s Ministry of Defense unilaterally declared a “truce” for May 8 and 9 and warned that if the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9 is “disrupted,” it will launch a large-scale missile strike on central Kyiv.

ZMINA previously reported that Russian shelling on May 6, 2026, killed 10 civilians and injured at least 52 others. 

On May 5, Russians killed 26 civilians in Ukraine, with more than 150 people injured, according to the National Police. ZMINA notes that these casualty data from May 5 are based on the regional reports by the National Police of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) stated that 28 people were reportedly killed and 194 injured on 5 May alone in a wave of attacks by the Russian Federation, bringing the reported civilian toll across Ukraine since 1 May to at least 70 killed and more than 500 injured. 

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