Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday it would unilaterally halt combat operations for Friday and Saturday to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the country’s most important secular holiday, but threatened to retaliate with what it called a “massive missile strike on the center of Kyiv” if Ukraine attempted to disrupt the Victory Day celebrations. The ministry told civilians and foreign diplomats in the Ukrainian capital “of the need to leave the city promptly.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy then announced that his country would begin its own ceasefire at 12 a.m. Wednesday and respond in kind to Russian actions from that point forward, without setting an end date. Zelenskyy said Kyiv had received no formal truce request but that in the time remaining “it is realistic to ensure” a halt to hostilities. He urged the Kremlin “to take real steps to end their war, especially since Russia’s Defense Ministry believes it cannot hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.”
For years the Kremlin has used the pomp-filled Victory Day parade to showcase military might, but this year the event on Red Square will proceed without tanks, missiles or other military hardware for the first time in nearly two decades. Some smaller parades elsewhere in the country have also been pared down or canceled, with officials citing security concerns over Ukrainian drone attacks. Speaking at a summit with European leaders in Armenia, Zelenskyy said the Russian authorities “fear drones may buzz over Red Square” on May 9, adding: “This is telling. It shows they are not strong now, so we must keep up the pressure through sanctions on them.”
The rival truce declarations echo a familiar cycle. Putin declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire around Victory Day in 2025 and ordered cellphone internet blackouts in Moscow to avert drone strikes. Last week he floated the idea of another holiday truce in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. Russian media reported Monday that cellphone operators have begun warning customers of internet restrictions in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the coming days.
Victory Day remains a rare point of consensus in Russia’s divisive Soviet past. The USSR lost an estimated 27 million people in what it called the Great Patriotic War, a sacrifice that has left a deep scar in the national psyche. Putin, who has ruled Russia for more than 25 years, has turned the holiday into a pillar of his tenure and used it to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
Last year’s 80th anniversary parade drew the largest gathering of world leaders in Moscow in a decade, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Fico has said he will lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and meet Putin this year but will skip the parade.