Attacks continue but at a lower intensity; Putin signals preparedness to end the war. What we know on day 1,537
Russia and Ukraine on Saturday traded accusations of violating a three-day ceasefire, but no major strikes were reported. “Since the beginning of the day, the number of attacks by the aggressor has reached 51,” the Ukrainian military general staff said. Volodymyr Petrov, from the 33rd separate mechanised brigade in the eastern Kharkiv region, told Agence France-Presse that “the ceasefire is ongoing” but that the Russians were still attacking with drones and artillery. “We’re responding in kind,” he said.
Russian drones killed two civilians and wounded three in Ukraine’s central-eastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, local authorities said. In Russia’s western Belgorod region, three people were wounded by Ukrainian drone strikes, said the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. No attacks were recorded on Russia’s diminished Victory Day parade on Red Square.
The Russian defence ministry said that “despite the declaration of a ceasefire, Ukrainian armed groups launched attacks using drones and artillery against our troops’ positions”. It did not provide the exact number of violations on Saturday. Casualties were still reported on both sides, as Moscow and Kyiv continued to exchange drone strikes.
