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At least 18 people were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine on Tuesday, Kyiv said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Moscow’s “utter cynicism” for launching deadly attacks while also seeking a truce to stage its 9 May patriotic parade.
Twelve people were killed in a Russian airstrike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to the local governor Ivan Federov.
While Zelenskyy said at least five civilians were killed after Russia attacked the centre of the eastern city of Kramatorsk, the last hub under Kyiv’s control in the Donetsk region, and warned the death toll could rise.
“The attack hit right in the city centre, targeting civilians,” the Ukrainian leader said.
On Monday, Moscow announced a ceasefire during its World War II victory celebrations over 9 May, while Kyiv has said it will halt fire over 6 May.
The 9 May parade is typically a bombastic display of military strength, which since 2022 has sought to link Soviet victory over Nazi Germany with the invasion of Ukraine.
But the Kremlin ordered a scaled-back version this year, with no military hardware to be on display, over the fear it could be targeted by Ukraine.
“It is utter cynicism to ask for a ceasefire in order to hold propaganda celebrations while carrying out such missile and drone strikes every single day leading up to it,” Zelenskyy said in a statement in response to the attacks.
“Russia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war and our responses,” he added.
Intensifying strikes
In Russia, officials said a Ukrainian drone attack on the Volga city of Cheboksary killed two people.
Regional authorities said 32 people were wounded after the drone slammed into an apartment block, hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine.
Kyiv has intensified its retaliatory long-range strikes in recent weeks, hitting a string of Russian oil facilities and a luxury high-rise building in Moscow.
It calls the strikes fair retaliation for Russia’s nightly bombing of its cities with drones and missiles.
Overnight, a Russian strike killed four people, employees of state energy firm Naftogaz and first responders, in the central Poltava region, triggering outrage in Kyiv.
“Two of the killed were first responders, killed in a vile double-tap strike targeting those who arrived to help people at the scene of the attack,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, denouncing Moscow’s “criminal tactics.”
The state emergency service said Russia fired four missiles at the site after an earlier drone hit, publishing video of a fireball erupting at the facility.
Additional sources • AFP