KYIV: Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least 22 people on Tuesday, including 12 in one of the worst strikes so far this year, as the deadline approached for a proposal from Kyiv for an open-ended ceasefire to begin at midnight.
Russia announced a ceasefire for May 8-9, dates when it commemorates the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two and holds a military parade.
Ukraine, in response, announced a proposal for an open-ended ceasefire starting at midnight on Wednesday, urging Russia to reciprocate. President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was not an option for Russia to halt strikes for one day for its military parade while having heavily pounded Ukraine. At least 12 people were killed in the city of Zaporizhzhia, emergency services said on the Telegram app. According to the regional governor Ivan Fedorov, at least 16 more were injured.
Residential buildings, a car repair service and a car wash were damaged in the attack, he said. The attack also sparked fires at a shop and an unidentified enterprise, he added.
Images from the site that he shared showed a heavily damaged building with billowing flames and smoke. Cars are seen burning as first responders help bloodied people leave the site.
Three aerial bombs dropped on the eastern frontline city of Kramatorsk killed five other people, Zelensky said on Telegram. Five people were injured, he added, warning that the death toll might rise. A Russian overnight strike on the gas production facilities in the Poltava region killed five, Ukrainian officials said. In Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack on the Chuvashia region killed two on Tuesday, the Russian state news agency reported.
Moscow is demanding that Kyiv fully withdraws its troops from the eastern Donbas area and renounces Western military support -- ultimatums seen as tantamount to capitulation in Kyiv, which has rejected them.
On the battlefield, Russia´s progress has stalled -- with its army losing more territory than it captured in April for the first time since summer 2023, according to an analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The war has spiralled into the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and displacing millions.
Meanwhile, Russia on Tuesday cut mobile internet connection in the capital ahead of World War II victory commemorations, set to be staged under fear of a retaliatory Ukrainian drone attack.
Journalists reported no mobile internet in the centre of the Russian capital on Tuesday morning, as network providers warned disruptions were set to last until May 9, when Russia stages a grand military parade on Red Square. “During the preparations for and the running of the festive events from May 5 to 9, there may be temporary restrictions on mobile internet and text messaging in Moscow and the Moscow region,” mobile operator MTS said in a message to its subscribers.
A few hours later, Russia´s digital ministry said that access to mobile internet in Moscow had been restored, adding that the “targeted” outages helped “to reduce the accuracy of drones and to counterattack.”
