The Kremlin said on Wednesday to take “all necessary measures” to guarantee Moscow the safety of the future celebrations of the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, in which nearly thirty foreign leaders must participate alongside Vladimir Putin.
These last two days, multiple attacks of Ukrainian drones have disrupted the functioning of airports in western Russia, arousing fears on the holding of the ceremonies.
During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, new cross -crossed attacks between Russia and Ukraine killed two people in kyiv, made a dozen injured on the Ukrainian side, and led to the temporary closure of airports in Moscow.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia took “all necessary measures” to ensure the security of celebrations, the high point of which will be the military parade scheduled for Friday on the Red Square, which the Chinese president, Xi Jinping must attend.
Among the guests will also be the Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, who met Vladimir Putin on Wednesday at the Kremlin and signed with him a “strategic partnership” agreement between Moscow and Caracas.
An uncertain truce
The celebrations of May 9 occupy a central place in the patriotic worship of the 1945 victory promoted by the Kremlin, which argues that the offensive in Ukraine, launched in February 2022 and which made tens of thousands of deaths in each camp, is an extension of the war against Nazi Germany.
On the occasion of the commemorations, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced on April 28 a three -day truce, from May 8 to 10.
But this proposal, which is to come into force on Wednesday at 9 p.m. GMT, was strongly criticized by Ukraine, whose Russian army occupies almost 20 % of the territory.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he did not “believe” that Moscow would respect the truce, and warned that Ukraine could not guarantee the security of leaders going to Moscow.
Met near an artery in Moscow, where military vehicles participating in the general rehearsal of the May 9, Valeria Pavlova, Russian student of 22 years, told AFP that were to “find it difficult to believe” that kyiv observes the truce.
Military sites targeted in Russia
Ukraine continued its drone night attacks in Russia, resulting in the early hours of Wednesday theft of flights heading for Chérémétiévo airport in Moscow, according to the national company Aeroflot.
Since Tuesday, at least 350 flights have been canceled or delayed in Russia, and at least 60,000 passengers have been assigned, the association of Russian tour operators announced on Wednesday.
The airspace of Ukraine, whose territory is bombed daily and massively by Moscow, has been completely closed since the start of the Russian attack in 2022.
The day before, the activities of several other Russian airports had already had to be suspended due to Ukrainian attacks.
Ukraine, via Andriï Kovalenko, an official responsible for fighting disinformation, also claimed attacks on military targets in Russia on Wednesday: three companies and two air bases.
Deadly attacks in Ukraine
The Russian army has launched five ballistic missiles and 187 drones on Ukraine in the night, the Ukrainian air forces said on Wednesday, claiming to have shot two of these missiles and 81 drones.
In kyiv, a mother and her son were killed and seven other people were injured, including four children, he continued.
According to Mr. Zelensky, the regions of Zaporijjia, Donetsk, Jitomir, Kherson and Dnipro have also been targeted. The city of Zaporijjia (south) was attacked by 13 drones, according to the police, which reported four injured.
On the front, the Russian army claimed on Wednesday the capture of the town of Lypové, located in the north of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (east) where two people were killed in the morning in Oleksandro-Kalynové by Russian strikes, according to the Ukrainian governor Vadym Filachkin.
After the new strikes on kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky called for “considerably increased pressure and more severe sanctions” against Moscow.
US vice-president JD Vance called for “direct negotiations” between kyiv and Moscow, while separate talks, initiated by Washington, have been extended for almost three months without major advances.
