Russia: As the Victory Day military parade getting closer… Zelensky warns against attending

Russia announced Friday that it had intercepted hundreds of drones heading towards Moscow after warning of a possible retaliatory strike on Kyiv, despite a two-day unilateral ceasefire declared to coincide with its celebration of the anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Ukraine criticized the temporary truce announced by Russia as a propaganda measure to protect the Victory Day parade on May 9, one of the most important national events for President Vladimir Putin.

Hours before the ceasefire announced by Russia was set to begin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia’s allies against attending the military parade.

Zelensky said, “We’ve also received messages from some countries close to Russia, stating that their representatives intend to come to Moscow… This is a strange desire… these days… We don’t recommend it”.

He added, “They want Ukraine’s permission to hold their parade so that they can go out into the square safely for one hour once a year, and then they continue killing”.

Zelensky had previously proposed a ceasefire starting on May 6, but this ceasefire received no response from the Russian side.

As Moscow escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, Kyiv responded forcefully.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that its forces had destroyed approximately 350 Ukrainian drones overnight.

An additional 20 drones were intercepted in the two hours following the start of the Moscow truce, according to a series of updates posted by the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, on the Russian Max app.

Russia has urged foreign embassies to evacuate their staff and citizens from Kyiv, in anticipation of retaliatory strikes if Ukraine disrupts Victory Day celebrations on Saturday.

A Russian memo urged foreign missions in Kyiv to ensure the timely evacuation of their staff and citizens given the inevitability of a retaliatory strike against Kyiv if Ukraine disrupts Saturday’s celebrations in Moscow.

For its part, the British Foreign Office considered Moscow’s threats unnecessary, irresponsible and completely unjustified, adding that any attack on a diplomatic mission would represent a further escalation of the war.

From his part, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that Berlin wouldn’t withdraw its embassy staff from Kyiv.

A high-level source close to the Ukrainian president said that Zelensky would also remain in Kyiv over the weekend.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that during the ceasefire it would completely halt fire along the entire front line and cease long-range strikes against military infrastructure.

It added that if Ukraine didn’t reciprocate, Moscow would respond in kind.

Russia celebrates “Victory Day” over Nazism in World War II every year with a huge military parade in Red Square in the Russian capital.

Putin has made the memory of the war a central narrative of his 25-year rule, and has used it to justify his invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has intensified its operations in recent weeks, launching deep strikes against Russian infrastructure, particularly oil facilities, justifying this by citing Russian air raids and asserting that the goal is to cut off financial resources to Moscow.

The threat of Ukrainian drone strikes has prompted Moscow to significantly scale back its May 9th celebrations. Consequently, the military parade in Red Square will take place without military equipment, for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The number of foreign guests has also decreased, with only the leaders of Belarus, Malaysia and Laos attending, in addition to the leaders of two breakaway Georgian republics backed by Russia and not recognized by the United Nations, according to the Kremlin.

Moscow has also begun citywide internet shutdowns that will continue until Saturday.

Talks aimed at ending what has become the worst conflict in Europe since World War II have made little progress and have been overshadowed by the Iran war.

Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from four regions it considers to be under its control, conditions which Kyiv deems unacceptable.

In this context, Kyiv announced on Thursday that Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustam Umarov, will hold talks with US officials in Florida on how to end the Russian invasion.