From May 8 — Thursday, a 72-hour unilateral ceasefire declared by Moscow in its conflict with Ukraine was set to start amidst Russia’s Victory Day celebrations.
The ceasefire, which started its first day with Ukraine and Russia reporting ongoing military offensives against their forces, created immediate doubts about its veracity as a reality.
Mutual accusations of violations
Within hours of the start of what seemed to be a truce, Ukrainian officials immediately claimed that Russia had violated its own cease-fire throughout the entire immediate front line.
Ukrainian officials immediately pointed the finger of blame at Russia for what they claimed were ceasefire violations and scores of assault operations in the first half of Thursday. This included reports of Russian attacks (including guided missiles) in the region of Sumy and at least one civilian killed, said Ukrainian authorities, after the ceasefire was supposed.
Has gone into effect
But as an example of the other side, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its troops strictly complied with the ceasefire, while the Ukrainian side was still launching hostilities and attacks on the positions of the Russians. Ukraine is also reporting “incursions” to try to breach its border in the Kursk region from Moscow.
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Truce Watchdog
In advance of the ceasefire, Kyiv did not exclude the fact that the agreement would be a farce and (presumably jokingly) a manipulation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine has always stated that it is for a nationwide 30-day ceasefire and not only at IDP locations that would make the path clearer towards a potential peace settlement (formally not agreed by Moscow).
First day: mutual accusations, fighting seemingly continues to dampen confidence among forces on both sides, as well as the precarious nature of any unilateral ceasefire in this ongoing conflict. Humanitarian Factor: International Observers Still Worried About Nothing Pointing Clearly Towards de-escalation.
