Putin Declares Unilateral Ceasefire to Avoid Attacks on Moscow During May 9 Celebrations

Russia has declared a unilateral ceasefire from May 8 to 11, citing humanitarian considerations, the Kremlin press service announced.

Russian forces allegedly will suspend all hostilities from midnight on May 8 until midnight on May 11 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War.

“By decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Putin, based on humanitarian considerations, on the days of the 80th anniversary of the victory from 00:00 on the night of May 7 to 00:00 on the night of May 10 to 11, the Russian side declares a ceasefire. All hostilities are suspended for this period,” the statement released by the Russian presidential administration reads.

The Russian government says it expects Ukraine to “follow this example,” but warned that if Ukraine violates the ceasefire, Russian forces “will respond adequately and effectively.”

Earlier, Putin declared an Easter ceasefire from April 19 to 21. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said at the time that Ukraine’s forces would act “in a mirror-like way,” but no complete halt to hostilities had been observed.

During the Easter truce, Russian forces used the lull to evacuate casualties and reinforce positions, while in many areas combat activity largely continued.

“The theater of operations remains unchanged. Russian forces continue to fire on Defense Forces positions with the forces and means available to them. Nothing has changed compared to yesterday,” said Yurii Fedorenko, commander of the 429th Achilles Regiment.

Taking advantage of the reduced fire, Russian troops cleared debris from destroyed equipment and built a river crossing over the Chornyi Zherebets in the area of responsibility of Ukraine’s 66th Mechanized Brigade. Ukrainian forces were unable to disrupt the construction because Russian troops did not officially violate the declared ceasefire.

At the end of the Easter truce, Zelenskyi said, citing the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that Russian forces had violated their own ceasefire 2,935 times within a single day.

The largest number of attacks and assaults was recorded in the Pokrovsk direction. Fighting also continued in the operational zones of the Kursk region, Siversk, and other areas of the Donetsk region.

In total, there were 96 Russian assault actions, 1,882 instances of shelling — including 812 involving heavy weapons — and more than 950 Russian FPV drone strikes recorded during the period.