Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Nearly all of Russia’s elite is expected to be gathered in Moscow this Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Moscow just walked away from a chance for peace, as a Ukrainian-proposed ceasefire ended in failure.
On May 4, Kyiv suggested a truce starting on May 6. Ukraine wanted to see if the guns could actually go quiet for a few days.
The proposal came after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral ceasefire for May 8 and May 9 to mark Russia’s national holiday, Victory Day.
The response to the Ukrainian proposal was brutal. Russian forces launched thousands of new attacks, targeting civilian sites and sending waves of drones.
“As of today, we see that Russia has responded to our proposal for a ceasefire only with new strikes and new attacks,” the Ukrainian leader said in his evening address.
Changing the plan
Now, Kyiv is ready to hit back.
“Depending on the situation tonight and tomorrow, we will also determine our entirely justified responses,” Zelenskyy warned.
He pointed a finger directly at the Kremlin. “However, if that one person in Moscow, who cannot live without war, is interested in nothing but a parade and nothing else, that is a different matter,” he added.
Rising tensions
The timing is critical right now. Russia is preparing for its massive Victory Day celebrations on May 9.
The day, held annually, is usually a spectacle of military parades and celebrations commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
This year’s parade in Moscow will, however, be a significantly scaled-back version, as the Russian Ministry of Defence has announced that there will be no armored vehicles in the parade due to the situation in Ukraine.
Additionally, Putin is reportedly pulling combat-ready troops out of Ukraine in order to fill the parade ranks.
The Kremlin has also reportedly allocated more than 40 additional air defense systems to protect Moscow during Victory Day.
A golden opportunity
Ahead of the Victory Day parade, the Kremlin has threatened Kyiv, saying that any attack on Moscow during the celebrations will result in a massive strike on the Ukrainian capital.
That being said, the parade provides a unique opportunity for Ukraine to send a message to the Russian population and the world.
Speaking to Ukrainian Focus Morning, a joint project of Espreso and Slava.tv, Colonel Dmytro Kashchenko of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said he believed Ukraine’s limited resources could be put to better use elsewhere — but he did not rule out a strike on Moscow.
“Such a parade is a concentration of people and cameras, and therefore broadcast worldwide (…) We could launch a drone strike so that the thousands of cameras recording the parade would show: ‘Look, Ukraine is closing in on you and could destroy both the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] and the defense minister [Andrei Belousov] at any moment,’” he explained.
The interview was conducted before Russia violated the Ukrainian-proposed ceasefire.
So even if Ukraine did not plan to attack the Russian celebrations on Saturday, Putin might have just shot himself in the foot by breaking the ceasefire, as Ukraine now seems to seriously consider sending a message.
Sources: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service, Regional Reports, Ukrainian Focus Morning, Euronews
