Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
At the same time, Zelenskyy accusses Russia of “not even trying” to honor their own ceasefire.
The Russian unilaterally imposed Victory Day truce has entered into effect, but it’s safe to say that it is not off to a great start.
The truce entered into effect at midnight between May 7 and May 8, but according to the Russian Ministry of Defence, there have already been more than 1,000 violations, the BBC reported.
The mayor of Moscow even posted on Telegram that Ukrainian drones had targeted the Russian capital.
The thing is: Ukraine never agreed to honor the Russian-imposed ceasefire. In a statement posted on May 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that there had been no official proposal from the Kremlin to Kyiv.
Instead, Zelenskyy suggested a ceasefire starting at midnight between May 5 and May 6 — a ceasefire that was allegedly broken by Russia just a couple of minutes after it went into effect.
But Russia should take a look in the mirror before accusing Ukraine of breaking the Russian-imposed ceasefire.
Zelenskyy: Russia “not even trying”
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Russians are not even honoring their own ceasefire.
In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy said Russia had launched more than 140 attacks on the frontline from midnight until 7 a.m. local time, as well as 10 assault operations and 850 drone strikes.
“All of this clearly demonstrates that there was not even an imitation attempt by the Russian side to cease fire on the front line,” Zelenskyy noted.
Ukraine has never agreed to honor the Victory Day truce, although the Kremlin has called upon Ukraine to respect it.
Will “respond in kind”
Following Russia’s alleged violation of the Ukrainian ceasefire proposal, Zelenskyy made it clear that Ukraine would “respond in kind”.
It is unclear what this means, but the Kremlin has amassed more than 40 air defence systems in and around Moscow ahead of the Victory Day parade on Saturday, allegedly out of fear of a Ukrainian attack.
The Kremlin has also threatened to attack Kyiv if the Victory Day truce is violated.
Sources: Russian Ministry of Defence, BBC, Telegram post by Volodymyr Zelenskyy
