Russia and Ukraine continue fighting despite ceasefires as Moscow prepares May 9 parade

Russia and Ukraine confirmed on Friday that they had agreed to a three-day ceasefire, under the aegis of the United States, which will last from May 9 to 11. US President Donald Trump has said he hopes the truce will be extended.

Trump’s announcement of this temporary ceasefire on Truth Social earlier in the day also specified that each country, engaged in a conflict for more than four years, would exchange 1,000 prisoners of war.

‘I would like to see a significant extension,’ Trump told reporters Friday evening. ‘It’s possible.’

Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of violating separately declared ceasefires this week, as Russia prepares to hold the Victory Day parade on May 9, marking the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Trump is showing growing frustration with the lack of progress in ending the war between Ukraine and Russia. An end to the fighting offers a glimmer of hope to the American president, whose war against Iran alongside Israel is weighing on his domestic popularity rating. Efforts to end the conflict with Iran, which is entering its third month, appear to have stalled amid renewed tensions in the Gulf.

The ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia would include a suspension of all ‘kinetic activity’ and an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

‘This request was made directly by me, and I greatly appreciate that it was accepted by President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Let’s hope that this is the beginning of the end of a very long, bloody and bitter war,’ he said.

Trump added that discussions were continuing to end the conflict and that “we are getting closer every day.”

Zelensky, speaking on Telegram, confirmed that the ceasefire was arranged as part of US negotiating efforts and that humanitarian issues remained a key priority.

‘That is why today, as part of the negotiation process mediated by the American side, we received Russia’s agreement to carry out an exchange of prisoners of war in the format 1,000 for 1,000,’ Zelensky wrote.

Zelensky also issued an ironic decree ‘authorizing’ Russia’s May 9 military parade and asserting that Ukrainian weapons would not target Red Square. Russia has warned that any attempt by Ukraine to disrupt the parade on Saturday would trigger a massive missile strike on Kyiv.

Friday’s news follows what Zelensky described as substantive discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Miami, with U.S. envoys expected to visit Kyiv in the coming months.

Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, speaking on Putin’s behalf, said Russia had also accepted Trump’s initiative.

‘An agreement on this issue was reached during our telephone discussions with the American administration,’ he said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses intercepted Ukrainian drones heading towards the capital over a seven-hour period ending around 8:00 p.m. local time (17:00 GMT). Since Trump announced the ceasefire, Moscow has issued such an advisory.

Previously, Russia and Ukraine had accused each other of violating ceasefires that each had declared separately.

The two parties continue to clash violently with missiles, drones and artillery, with no apparent end to the conflict. Peace talks have stalled, with Ukraine rejecting Putin’s demand to cede territories it has successfully defended since 2022.

SEPARATE CEASEFIRE

Putin had unilaterally declared a two-day ceasefire, Friday and Saturday, to cover the commemorations of Victory Day – Russia’s most revered national holiday.

Kyiv responded that a truce limited to this single holiday was inappropriate and instead called for an indefinite truce starting two days earlier, which Moscow ignored.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War II, including several million in Ukraine, but pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red banner of Soviet victory was raised over the Reichstag in May 1945.

This year’s parade in Moscow – usually a display of Russian military might with intercontinental ballistic missiles and tanks – will not feature any military equipment.

Moscow’s troops have been fighting in Ukraine for more than four years, longer than the Soviet engagement from 1941 to 1945 in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.

Russia, which controls about 19.4% of Ukraine, has seen its progress slow this year, seizing only 700 km2 in the first four months of the year, according to pro-Ukrainian maps.