Vladimir Putin’s subordinates are bending over backwards to ensure Saturday’s Victory Day parade in Moscow goes ahead smoothly. Mobile internet has been cut off, air defence systems are being redeployed to the capital, and threats to bomb Ukraine if it dares disrupt the celebrations have been issued. Yesterday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Kremlin had written to foreign governments urging them to evacuate staff from Kyiv. She warned of ‘inevitable’ and ‘massive’ retaliatory strikes on the Ukrainian capital should the ‘terrorist regime’ in Kyiv attack Moscow on Putin’s sacred day.

The threats follow Russia’s proposed ‘Victory Day truce’ for 8 and 9 May, which Volodymyr Zelensky appears to have rejected. The Ukrainian President had challenged his Russian counterpart to prove he was interested in genuine de-escalation rather than a convenient one-day pause by starting the ceasefire at midnight on 6 May instead. 

Zelensky has little incentive to agree to yet another fictitious truce

Zelensky has little incentive to agree to yet another fictitious........

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