Ukraine declared a unilateral ceasefire beginning at midnight between 5 and 6 May 2026, a move President Volodymyr Zelensky designed to signal Kyiv’s readiness for an immediate and unconditional halt to hostilities. Russia answered with 108 combat drones and three missiles fired at Ukrainian cities, with attacks that continued through the night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed the breach on X, stating that Russia violated the ceasefire Ukraine had initiated at midnight. The overnight salvo was not a marginal incursion: it was a full multi-vector attack across six regions.

Reuters and the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the breakdown of the attack: two ballistic missiles, one cruise missile, and 108 combat drones, all launched from 1500 GMT on 5 May. This followed an even deadlier wave the previous day, when Russian glide bombs killed at least 22 people across Kramatorsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, and Chernihiv, hours before the Ukrainian truce window even opened. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stated plainly that Russia’s ceasefire proposals remained only statements, and that Russia’s primary targets were energy facilities, oil and gas infrastructure, railways, and industrial sites.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced a ceasefire for 8 and 9 May 2026, tied to the Kremlin’s Victory Day parade marking the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The Russian MoD stated that the decision came from Putin directly as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and accompanied the announcement with a direct threat: if Ukraine attempted to disrupt the celebrations, Russian forces would launch what the ministry described as a retaliatory, massive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv. This was not framed as a gesture of goodwill; it was a conditional offer with military consequences attached.

Ukraine rejected the framing. Zelensky said he received no official notice from Russia and called it utter cynicism to seek silence for propaganda celebrations while launching daily attacks. He declared Ukraine’s own open-ended truce beginning at the end of Tuesday, with no expiration date. His chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov stated that if the ceasefire Ukraine initiated was reciprocated, Ukraine would continue to observe it, and that the next move was Russia’s. Russia’s response, within hours of the Ukrainian ceasefire taking effect, was the overnight barrage confirmed by AFP and Reuters.

In Kharkiv at grid reference 37U CR 01497 41584 (49.9935N, 36.2304E), Ukraine’s second largest city, Russian drones struck seven private residential buildings during the night. ⚠ SINGLE SOURCE Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported the attack across the Shevchenkivskyi and Kholodnohirskyi districts via Telegram, with one woman suffering acute stress and at least one other person seeking medical attention. The Telegram post has not been picked up by wire agencies at time of publication and is flagged accordingly. Kharkiv has endured sustained Russian aerial bombardment since Russian forces were pushed from the region in 2022.

In Zaporizhzhia at grid reference 36T XU 60097 00600 (47.8388N, 35.1396E), where strikes on Tuesday had already killed 12 people and wounded 37, Russian forces attacked an industrial infrastructure facility in the early hours of 6 May 2026. Governor Ivan Fedorov reported the strike. The back-to-back targeting of Zaporizhzhia reflects a documented Russian targeting pattern: industrial and energy infrastructure are attacked not only to degrade capacity but to suppress civilian resistance far from the active front line.

In the northern Sumy region at grid reference 36U XB 26417 41100 (50.9077N, 34.7981E), a Russian drone struck a civilian car in the early morning hours, killing one passenger and wounding the driver, according to the regional governor. In Kryvyi Rih further west, a morning drone attack damaged infrastructure, though no casualties were reported there. Taken together, the overnight strikes across six regions represent a coordinated multi-vector operation, not a series of isolated incidents.

Russia’s ceasefire proposal for 8 and 9 May did not emerge from diplomatic pressure alone. Euronews confirmed that Russia’s Defence Ministry announced no military hardware would appear at this year’s Red Square parade, citing fear of long-range Ukrainian drone attacks. Zelensky acknowledged this directly, noting that Russia feared Ukrainian drones might appear over Red Square. The removal of military equipment from a parade that traditionally showcases Russia’s latest weapons systems is a concession to Ukrainian strike capability with no precedent in the post-Soviet era.

The Russian ceasefire proposal was first raised during a phone call between Putin and US President Donald Trump, according to Euronews. The Kremlin cast it as a gesture of restraint. Ukraine’s reading was different: a truce that threatens overwhelming retaliation if one side acts is not a ceasefire but a deterrence instrument dressed in diplomatic language. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed both unilateral ceasefires and expressed hope for their implementation, according to NPR, but the overnight strikes rendered that hope academic within hours of Ukraine’s truce taking effect.

Ukraine did not restrict its operations to absorbing Russian strikes during the ceasefire window. Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces launched F-5 Flamingo cruise missiles at military-industrial facilities in Cheboksary, in Russia’s Chuvash Republic, more than 900 miles from Ukrainian territory. The targeted plant was identified by Zelensky as a supplier of navigation components to the Russian Navy, missile industry, aviation, and armored vehicle programmes. Russian regional health authorities confirmed that a drone attack wounded three people in Cheboksary, consistent with the Ukrainian claim. An industrial area in Kirishi, in Russia’s Leningrad region, was also reported struck.

Russia’s Defence Ministry reported that its forces destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones overnight across 18 Russian regions, including over occupied Crimea and the Azov Sea. These figures reflect Russian official reporting and cannot be independently verified. Ukraine’s continued deep-strike operations against Russian rear-area logistics and defence industry represent a deliberate campaign to erode Russia’s war production capacity. On the same day, the United States approved a potential sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions to Ukraine, a development that signals continued Western weapons support regardless of the ceasefire theatre playing out on both sides.