RUSSIAN drone and missile attacks have killed at least 27 people in Ukraine, officials said, days before a two-day unilateral ceasefire by Moscow was due to take effect.
Ukrainian officials said Russian glide bombs killed at least 12 people in southeastern Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday, hitting a car repair shop and residential buildings, in one of the worst attacks on the city so far this year.
Twenty more were wounded, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Further northeast, six people were killed, and 12 others were wounded in the city of Kramatorsk, the last hub under Ukraine’s control in the embattled Donetsk region.
Four more people were killed in the city of Dnipro.
Russian strikes also hit Ukrainian state-run gas facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions overnight, killing three employees and two rescue workers, according to Serhiy Koretskyi, the CEO of Naftogaz.
“We have sustained significant damage and production losses. This was a combined strike involving UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and ballistic missiles,” Koretskyi said.
He added that the attack cut gas supplies to nearly 3,500 customers.
Zelenskyy said Russian authorities showed cynicism by announcing a ceasefire and then launching missile and drone attacks on his country.
“These are absolutely cynical, senseless terrorist strikes devoid of any military sense,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “Such Russian strikes on our cities and villages do not cease for a single day.”
Russia had announced the ceasefire from May 8 to 9 to coincide with commemorations of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and a military parade in Moscow’s Red Square.
Ukraine, in response, announced a proposal for an open-ended ceasefire starting at midnight on Wednesday (21:00 GMT on Tuesday), urging Russia to reciprocate. Zelenskyy said it was not an option for Russia to halt strikes for one day for its military parade while having heavily bombarded Ukraine.
Moscow officials paid little attention to the Ukrainian offer, however.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin offered greetings after midnight, praising World War II veterans and expressing admiration for servicemen in Ukraine as being “worthy of their ancestors and reliably defending” the country.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 11 ballistic missiles and 164 drones at the country since 6pm (15:00 GMT) on Monday. One missile and 149 drones were shot down or neutralised, it said, but eight missiles and 14 drones struck 14 locations.