One person dead as Ukraine accuses Russia of violating self-declared ceasefire

Russia struck north-eastern Ukraine on Thursday in the opening hours of a 72-hour ceasefire called by Russian President Vladimir Putin, killing one person, Ukrainian officials said.

The unilateral ceasefire coincides with celebrations in Moscow for the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Russia’s biggest secular holiday. Kyiv has pressed for a longer-term ceasefire.

Mr Putin on Thursday welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Kremlin.

Mr Xi, who Mr Putin earlier described as “our main guest” at Friday’s Victory Day festivities, arrived in Russia on Wednesday for a four-day visit.

Russian forces dropped guided air bombs on residential areas near the border in the north-east region of Sumy, killing one and wounding two people, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Ukraine’s air force also said at least one missile hit Sumy.

Large-scale missile and drone attacks, which have been a near-daily occurrence in Ukraine in recent weeks, were not recorded since 8.30pm on Wednesday, the air force said. Smaller-scale Russian attacks persisted elsewhere in the country closer to the front line, causing civilian casualties, it said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cast doubt on the ceasefire, calling it “manipulation” as US-led peace efforts stalled.

“For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire – just to provide Putin with silence for his parade,” Mr Zelensky said.

In March, the United States proposed a 30-day truce in the war, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for ceasefire terms more to its liking.

In Russia, officials said that the regions of Belgorod, Lipetsk, Orenburg, Ryazan and Tambov came under a drone threat alert overnight, but there were no reports of any drones being shot down or intercepted.

Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, also briefly imposed restrictions on flights to and from the airport in Nizhny Novgorod.

In welcoming Mr Xi, Mr Putin said that “the brotherhood of arms between our peoples, which developed during the harsh war years, is one of the fundamental foundations of modern Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic co-operation”.

He added that Moscow and Beijing were developing ties “for the benefit of the peoples of both countries and not against anyone”.

Mr Xi, in turn, said that “history and reality have fully proved that the continuous development and deepening of China-Russia relations is a necessity for the friendship between the two peoples from generation to generation”. He also called for safeguarding “international fairness and justice”.

Mr Putin and Mr Xi have met more than 40 times and developed strong personal ties that bolstered the countries’ “strategic partnership” as both face tensions with the West.

China has offered robust diplomatic support to Moscow after its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has emerged as a top market for Russian oil and gas, helping fill the Kremlin’s war coffers.

Russia has relied on China as the main source of machinery and electronics to keep its military machine running after western sanctions curtailed high-tech supplies.