May 7 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia continued to flout a Kyiv-proposed ceasefire on Thursday, adding that Ukraine would continue its long-range strikes if Russia carried on with its assaults.
Zelenskiy had floated the cessation, starting on May 6, in response to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s own proposed ceasefire from May 8 to 9 to coincide with its World War Two victory commemorations.
Moscow did not confirm it would adhere to Kyiv’s proposal.
Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Russian forces have been attacking Ukraine with drones, missile strikes, shelling and assaults along the front line since the start of the day.
On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia had warned diplomatic missions to evacuate Kyiv in case of any mass strike by Moscow in response to Ukrainian attempts to disrupt Victory Day events.
Ukraine’s air force said its units had downed 92 of 102 drones since 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Wednesday. Russia said on Thursday that air defences had destroyed 32 drones heading towards Moscow since the start of the day.
“In a mirror response to Russian strikes, we will continue our long-range sanctions. And in response to Russia’s willingness to move toward diplomacy, we will proceed along the path of diplomacy,” Zelenskiy said.
Kyiv’s forces have intensified attacks on military-industrial and energy sites across Russia, particularly oil infrastructure, in an effort to cripple Moscow’s biggest source of funding for its war in Ukraine.
On Thursday, Ukrainian drones struck a Lukoil-owned refinery in Perm, near the Ural Mountains, Kyiv’s drone forces commander said, the second attack on the facility in eight days.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine has recently hit targets in Russia’s Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg, as far as nearly 2,000 km (1,243 miles) away.
“There is a need to establish peace, rather than running around the world’s capitals begging for a pause on May 9. We need peace,” Zelenskiy said.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Comments