‘Putin only cares about parades’: fury as Russia rains missiles on Ukraine during 24-hour truce

Kyiv has criticised Russia for attacking several Ukrainian cities overnight with more than 100 combat drones and three missiles, in spite of a unilateral 24-hour ceasefire called by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s president had announced the truce after the Kremlin said it wanted a ceasefire on Saturday during its annual military parade in Red Square – but he said he would reciprocate if Vladimir Putin broke Ukraine’s ceasefire, which ends at midnight on Wednesday. Instead of pausing operations, Moscow has intensified them, with a series of devastating bombings on busy urban areas. On Tuesday, 28 civilians were killed in bomb and missile strikes in the Donetsk, Poltava and Dnipro regions and dozens were injured. Rescuers at the site of the kindergarten hit by a Russian drone strike in Sumy. Photograph: Reuters The latest strikes on Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia showed that Russia rejected peace, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga, said. “This shows fake calls for a ceasefire on May 9th have nothing to do with diplomacy. Putin only cares about military parades, not human lives,” he wrote on social media. Sybiga added: “Such attitude necessitates strong and increased pressure on the Russian regime, including new rounds of sanctions, isolation, accountability for Russian crimes, and enhanced support for Ukraine in all areas.” Moscow’s drone and bomb attacks on Tuesday were the most deadly in Ukraine for weeks. …