Russia, Ukraine intensify attacks ahead of Moscow’s World War II commemoration

More than a dozen airports were closed after a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes

A resident checks damage to his apartment following a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Picture: AP /Alex Babenko

Ukraine and Russia stepped up strikes ahead of Moscow’s World War II commemorations on Thursday, with Russia closing more than a dozen airports and cancelling scores of flights amid a wave of drone attacks.

The drone attacks, which Ukraine says targeted military facilities, disrupted travel as world leaders began arriving in Moscow for the annual Victory Day parade that marks the Soviet victory over invading Nazi forces in 1945.

Russia, meanwhile, struck the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, overnight with a ballistic missile, followed by hours of drone strikes that lasted well into Wednesday. At least two people were killed and seven injured, authorities said.

The attacks come as the US has struggled to get Ukraine and Russia to agree on a peace plan, threatening at times to walk away if the two sides didn’t make progress.

Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that he wasn’t pessimistic about the status of talks. “I wouldn’t say that the Russians are uninterested” in ending the conflict, he said. The Russians are asking for a certain set of concessions, and “we think they’re asking for too much, he said.

People walk on the central Manezhnaya Square decorated for celebrations of the Victory Day. Picture: AFP

Moscow said it planned to observe a ceasefire that it had called for, which was set to go into effect at midnight local time. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Moscow’s three-day ceasefire proposal a “theatrical performance” by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has called for a 30-day ceasefire, saying more time is needed for negotiations.

“In two or three days, it is impossible to build any plan for the next steps regarding ending the war,” Zelensky said.

Vance said Wednesday that Russia doesn’t view a 30-day ceasefire as in their strategic interests. “So we’ve tried to move beyond the obsession with the 30-day ceasefire,” he said.

Kyiv hasn’t publicly commented on the drone attacks, but a senior government official said the strikes were necessary as a show of force.

More than a dozen Russian airports ceased operations at some point over the past two days in response to the drone attacks, authorities said. Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot has cancelled numerous flights, as have other Russian airlines. Some airports, including in Moscow, remain closed.

Military personnel assembled for the parade dress rehearsal. Picture: AFP

Unverified videos of the Ukrainian attack posted online showed a thunderous midair explosion that lit up the sky. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at least nine Ukrainian drones were intercepted over the city.

The attacks also disrupted the air travel of some leaders as they made their way to Moscow for the military parade in Red Square, which Putin is expected to use to show the country isn’t isolated after more than three years of war in Ukraine.

A plane carrying Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who was travelling to Moscow, was forced to land in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, according to a report by Russia’s Vesti television channel. He later resumed his journey, state media reported.

Vucic is one of 29 world leaders, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who Moscow says will attend the parade in a show of support for Putin. The Victory Day spectacle traditionally includes Russian nuclear missile launchers trundling across Red Square and contingents of foreign troops goosestepping over the cobblestones.

Wall Street Journal