Ceasefire duel
In a last-ditch effort to shield its flagship national holiday, Russia’s defense ministry announced a two-day ceasefire starting May 8.
Ukraine countered it with its own open-ended ceasefire two days earlier, testing Russia’s real commitment to peace. But after Moscow responded with yet another wave of deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities, Zelenskyy threatened to “respond symmetrically.”
Russia, in turn, has vowed to hit central Kyiv if it targets the celebrations. Tellingly, for the first time in years, no foreign journalists will be allowed to attend the Moscow parade, presumably to ensure control of the narrative should anything go wrong.
In a bid to protect the capital, more than 40 air defense installations have reportedly been redirected to Moscow, leaving other parts of Russia more exposed, something Ukraine could potentially exploit.
But even if Russia’s Victory Day festivities go ahead without incident, Ukraine may have already achieved part of its goal: to disrupt ordinary Russians’ lives in the hope they’ll begin questioning their leadership’s priorities.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich came up with the idea of celebrating it [Victory Day] in a grand way,” another Moscow resident told Sotavision in a rare instance of public criticism of the Russian president.
“But something has gone wrong. Maybe something needs to be fixed at the core,” he said.