Warring sides accuse each other of violations as attacks continue across front lines.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of breaching a short ceasefire announced by Moscow to coincide with Victory Day commemorations marking the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
The Kremlin said its forces downed 264 Ukrainian drones early on Friday, with officials in Moscow reporting attempted attacks on the capital and in the Perm region in the Ural Mountains.
The truce, declared from May 8 to May 10, was intended to cover annual celebrations that include a military parade in Moscow.
Russia had warned that any disruption would trigger a large-scale missile response against Kyiv, urging foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital before potential escalation.
In a separate announcement, the Russian transport ministry said on Friday that 13 airports in Russia’s south halted operations due to drone attacks.
“Operations at the regional centre in Rostov-on-Don, which manages air traffic in southern Russia, have been temporarily suspended after Ukrainian drone struck the administrative building of the ‘Southern Russia Air Navigation’ branch,” the ministry said.
There were no casualties, it added.
Victory Day commemorations mark the Soviet Union’s loss of 27 million people in World War II, as it drove Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler died, and the Red Army’s Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in May 1945.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces continued to attack positions overnight, dismissing the ceasefire as ineffective.
He said Russia had carried out more than 140 attacks on front-line positions by early morning, alongside 10 assaults and more than 850 drone attacks.
“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,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine also reported striking a Russian oil facility in Yaroslavl, deep inside Russian territory, in what Kyiv described as retaliation for attacks on its cities.
“Ukraine’s long-range sanctions continued in response to Russian strikes on our cities and villages,” Zelenskyy said.
Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko, reporting from Moscow, called the attack “quite typical…we’ve seen plenty of those in the past two years, at least, with Ukraine targeting energy infrastructure”.
Regarding the suspension of flights at 13 airports across Russia, Medvedenko said it was a significant disruption as “a lot of people are travelling right now ahead of the Victory Day celebrations”.
Kyiv had proposed an open-ended ceasefire beginning on May 6, which it said Russia ignored. Moscow did not adopt that proposal, and neither side accepted the other’s terms.
In remarks before the truce, Zelenskyy criticised Russia’s approach to the commemorations, saying Moscow sought a pause “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 May 9. Strange and certainly inappropriate of the Russian leadership,” he added.
“Just as 81 years ago, so now America can help peace with a just and strong stance against the aggressor,” Zelenskyy said. “And it is important that the American people now view Russia precisely in this way – as an aggressor.”
Al Jazeera’s Audrey McAlpine, reporting from Kyiv, said Ukraine has taken responsibility for the overnight strike on the oil refinery, with a new term being used by Ukrainian officials to describe such actions as “long range sanctions”.
Ukraine uses the term because it believes Russia relies on revenue from oil exports to fund the war.
“And these strikes are carried out with long range drones used by Ukraine, which can now hit up to 1,500 kilometres [932 miles] inside of Russia. In the case of the oil refinery, we know that this was about 700 kilometres [434 miles] inside of Russian,” added McAlpine.
Since March, Ukraine has ramped up attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, at times striking the same facilities multiple times.
“The Tuapse oil refinery [Black sea coast] its been hit four times. So this really speaks to a new tactic by Ukraine. And really, Ukraine has said this entire week that it would intend to mirror Russia’s actions when it comes to strikes,” added McAlpine.
