War in Ukraine: Two dead in kyiv after Russian drone attacks

Drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine killed two people in Kyiv on Tuesday night, hours before foreign leaders were due to arrive for celebrations of the victory over Nazi Germany.

Zelensky calls for "increased pressure"

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a three-day unilateral truce on April 28, from May 8 to 10, on the occasion of this commemoration, which is expected to be attended by nearly thirty foreign leaders, including his ally, Chinese President Xi Jinping .

The ceasefire proposal, which is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. GMT (11 p.m. in France) on Wednesday, has been strongly criticized by Kiev . President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced it as an "attempt at manipulation" and said he did not "believe" Russia would respect the truce.

Following these new deadly strikes on kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky called for "significantly increased pressure and tougher sanctions" against Moscow, believing that this was the only way to "open the way to diplomacy."

142 drones over Ukraine

Hours before the ceasefire began, the Russian military launched a series of strikes across Ukraine, which itself launched drone attacks. The Russian military launched four ballistic missiles and 142 drones at Ukraine overnight, Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.

In Kyiv, two people – a mother and her son – were killed and seven others injured, including four children, he continued. The Ukrainian capital was hit twice: first by missiles, then by drones, according to the Ukrainian president. Drone debris fell on a five-story building in the Shevchenkivsky district in the west of the capital, causing a deadly fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko explained on Telegram.

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Zhitomir, Kherson, and Dnipro regions were also targeted overnight. The southern city of Zaporizhzhia was attacked by 13 drones, according to police, who reported four injuries.

Military sites targeted in Russia

For its part, Ukraine continued its drone attacks on Russia, leading to "temporary restrictions" and diversions of flights heading to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday, according to Russian national carrier Aeroflot. So far, 52 Aeroflot flights from Moscow have been canceled and more than 140 delayed, according to the company.

Fourteen Ukrainian drones heading towards the capital were shot down by air defenses overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that dozens of Ukrainian drones had been shot down on Tuesday evening.

The day before, several other Russian airports had already been forced to suspend operations due to Ukrainian attacks . Moscow regularly suspends air traffic in areas where its air defense systems are operational, but the scale of forced closures increased significantly in the run-up to the major military parade on May 9, attended by Vladimir Putin, on Friday.

Volodymyr Zelensky had indicated that Kyiv could not guarantee the "security" of the leaders attending the ceremonies. Ukraine, via Andrii Kovalenko, a Ukrainian official tasked with combating disinformation, also claimed responsibility on Wednesday for attacks against military targets in Russia: three military enterprises, including a fiber optic manufacturing plant for the army located in Saransk, and two air bases.