Ukraine launched drones toward Moscow for a third consecutive night on May 6-7, 2025, disrupting flights at major airports in the Russian capital just before Chinese President Xi Jinping and other foreign leaders arrived for commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defenses destroyed at least 14 drones approaching the capital between late Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The reported interceptions and their precise results could not be independently verified, but the aviation disruption was clear: Moscow's main airports temporarily restricted operations and airlines were forced to rearrange schedules. Reuters reported that the attacks had affected Moscow for a third consecutive day.
The strikes came during another night of attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said Russian drones and missiles struck Kyiv and other parts of the country, killing civilians and damaging residential buildings. The exchanges took place only hours before a three-day ceasefire unilaterally announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to begin.
Deadly overnight attack on Kyiv
Ukrainian officials said a woman and her son were killed in Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district after debris from an intercepted drone fell during the overnight Russian attack. Several other people were reported injured as fires and damage were recorded across multiple districts of the capital.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had launched 142 drones and four ballistic missiles against Ukraine overnight. Those figures were based on Ukrainian official reporting and were not independently verified in full. He called for increased international pressure and stronger sanctions on Russia in a statement that was also covered in the article's original BBC source link.
Russian officials, meanwhile, described the drones approaching Moscow as Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov characterized the attempted strikes as terrorism, a political characterization that Kyiv did not accept. Reuters reported that Russian authorities said security measures were being taken to protect the Victory Day events.
Airport disruption ahead of the Victory Day parade
The timing heightened security concerns because Moscow was preparing for its May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square. The event commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's role in the defeat of Nazi Germany and was expected to bring dozens of foreign leaders and military delegations to Moscow.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was beginning a four-day visit to Russia and was the most prominent foreign guest. Leaders expected at the commemorations also included Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Vietnamese leader To Lam, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Serbian President Aleksandar VuÄić.
Russia said 29 foreign leaders were expected to participate in the commemorations and military units from 13 countries were scheduled to take part in the parade. China sent the largest foreign military contingent, according to Russian reporting.
Xi's visit also highlighted the close relationship between Beijing and Moscow. China and Russia had expanded trade and diplomatic cooperation after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, while Beijing maintained that it was not a party to the war. During the visit, the two governments were expected to sign additional agreements covering their bilateral relationship.
Competing ceasefire proposals
Putin had announced that Russian forces would observe a 72-hour ceasefire covering May 8, May 9 and May 10 to coincide with the Victory Day commemorations. The Kremlin said Russia would respond if Ukrainian forces attacked during that period.
Ukraine did not accept the temporary truce as a sufficient ceasefire arrangement. Zelenskyy instead reiterated Kyiv's support for an unconditional 30-day cessation of hostilities, an approach that had also been promoted by the United States. Russia had argued that a longer ceasefire required agreement on mechanisms and conditions surrounding its implementation.
Zelenskyy also said before the Moscow events that Ukraine could not provide security guarantees for foreign dignitaries traveling to Russia while the war continued. His statement did not amount to a formal announcement that Ukraine would attack the parade or its foreign guests.
The dispute followed an earlier pause announced for Orthodox Easter. Russia and Ukraine subsequently accused each other of repeated violations, illustrating the difficulty of verifying and enforcing unilateral battlefield ceasefires.
What happened after the ceasefire began
Later developments showed that Putin's May 8-10 ceasefire did not produce a complete halt in fighting. After it began, Ukraine accused Russian forces of hundreds of violations and continuing assaults along the front. Russia, in turn, accused Ukraine of carrying out hundreds of attacks and attempting cross-border operations. Reuters could not independently verify the competing battlefield totals.
There was nevertheless evidence of reduced activity in some areas. Reuters correspondents reported lower-than-normal activity in one eastern sector, while Ukraine's air force said it had recorded no Russian missiles or drones in Ukrainian airspace during the first hours of the ceasefire.
The fighting therefore did not stop entirely, and the temporary Russian ceasefire did not become the broader 30-day cessation of hostilities sought by Ukraine and its supporters.
The parade went ahead despite the security concerns
Despite the preceding drone attacks and airport disruptions, Russia held its large Victory Day military parade on Red Square on May 9, 2025. Putin attended alongside Xi and other foreign leaders, and Russian and foreign military personnel participated in the ceremony.
Victory Day is one of Russia's most important national commemorations. It marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet Union suffered enormous losses during World War II, including millions of people from territories that are now independent states such as Ukraine.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, historical memory surrounding World War II has also become part of the political dispute between Moscow and Kyiv. Putin has repeatedly invoked the Soviet struggle against Nazi Germany when explaining Russia's war, while Ukraine and many European governments reject Moscow's use of that history to justify the invasion.
Ukraine commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany in Europe on May 8, aligning its observance with most European countries.
The wider war continued
At the time of the Moscow drone attacks, Russia occupied significant areas of internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014, and parts of eastern and southern Ukraine occupied after the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022. Russia's annexation claims over Ukrainian territory are not recognized by most of the international community.
The events surrounding the May 2025 commemorations demonstrated how long-range drone warfare had extended the conflict far beyond the front line. Ukraine had increasingly used drones to strike targets inside Russia, while Russia continued large-scale missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
The disruption in Moscow, the deadly attack on Kyiv and the competing accounts of ceasefire violations also underscored a central unresolved issue: both governments continued to publicly discuss possible pauses in fighting while military operations and disagreements over the terms of any lasting ceasefire persisted.
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