A security guard stands atop a pickup truck armed with a machine gun while patrolling an area in central Moscow (Reuters)Russia says its air defence units have intercepted and destroyed more than 50 drones heading for Moscow yesterday, just hours before Vladimir Putin’s celebrations for Victory Day began.
Putin has sought a three-day ceasefire starting at midnight from 7 May until 10 May to hold a parade in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
But the Moscow mayor said more than 50 drones were downed between 11am yesterday and 2am in the early hours today, in addition to 95 Ukrainian drones being intercepted over a four-hour period ending at midnight in various regions of central and southern Russia.
In Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin’s proclamation of a limited ceasefire showed his “strange and inappropriate” logic.
Moscow wants “to hold their parade, to go out onto the square safely for an hour once a year, and then continue killing, killing our people and waging war”, Zelensky said.
Russia also violated the Ukraine-led ceasefire which started on Wednesday and killed more than a dozen people in strikes across the country.
Zelensky says Putin’s war commemoration ceasefire shows ‘strange and twisted logic’Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russia’s proclamation of a limited ceasefire for its Second World War commemorations exposed the “strange and twisted” logic of its leaders.
Speaking in his nightly video address in the final hours before the Russian ceasefire went into effect at midnight (2100 GMT), Zelensky said Moscow wanted “to hold their parade, to go out onto the square safely for an hour once a year, and then continue killing, killing our people and waging war”.
“The Russians are already talking about strikes after 9 May. A strange and certainly twisted logic from the Russian leadership,” he said.
There were no reports of Russian strikes or other military activity after the deadline passed.
Air raid alerts had been announced for some Ukrainian regions in the final hours before it went into effect and the air force listed one brief alert for southeastern Ukraine after midnight.
Zelensky’s comments appeared to have been prepared before Russia’s defence ministry announced an expanded ceasefire – from midnight on 8 May until 10 May – to mark the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.
Arpan Rai8 May 2026 04:22
Moscow mayor says more than 50 drones intercepted by RussiaRussian air defence units have intercepted more than 50 drones heading for Moscow over a period of about 15 hours, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
The running total of drones downed between about 11am (0800 GMT) on Thursday and 2am on Friday exceeded 50, Sobyanin said in a long series of dispatches on Telegram announcing the interception of drones throughout Thursday.
Russia’s defence ministry said it would observe a three-day ceasefire starting at midnight on the night of 7 May to 8 May until 10 May in connection with commemorations of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
Emergency crews were examining debris on the ground, he said.
Russia’s defence ministry, posting separately on Telegram, said 95 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over a four-hour period ending at midnight in various regions of central and southern Russia.
People walk in a square near the headquarters of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, in central Moscow (Reuters)Arpan Rai8 May 2026 04:16
Briefing: What we know on the 1,534th day of Ukraine warWith hours to go for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russian officials say more than 50 drones headed for the capital have been destroyed and nearly 100 drones attacked Russia till midnight Ukraine’s Zelensky calls out “strange and inappropriate” logic of Putin to hold his “parade, to go out onto the square safely for an hour once a year, and then continue killing, killing our people and waging war” Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, lands in Miami for meetings with US negotiators on moving toward a peace accord, Zelensky says Arpan Rai8 May 2026 04:09
