MOSCOW: The Russian army will unilaterally observe a ceasefire with Ukraine between May 8 and May 9, when Moscow marks World War II Victory Day, the Russian defence ministry said on Monday.

“In accordance with a decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, a ceasefire has been declared from May 8-9, 2026,” the ministry said in a post on state-backed messaging app MAX.

Moscow attack

A Ukrainian drone hit a residential high-rise building in an upscale Moscow neighbourhood in a night-time attack, the Russian capital’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday.

The rare strike on heavily protected Moscow came just days ahead of Russia’s annual May 9 parade, which this year will be held without military hardware amid a heightened threat from Ukrainian strikes.

Drone hits Moscow highrise in rare attack

“A drone crashed into a building in the area of the Mosfilmovskaya (street). There are no casualties,” Sobyanin said, referring to an expensive district next to the Moscow film studio and some 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the Kremlin.

He added that the two drones that targeted Moscow were repelled by air defences during the night. Another Ukrainian drone was hit over the Russian capital in the busy morning hours, Sobyanin said in a later post.

Russian state broadcaster Rossiya-1 published a video showing collapsed walls and broken doors inside a damaged apartment.

The May 9 parade, to mark the victory over Nazi Germany, has become a central event during President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

Nine killed in Ukraine

A Russian missile attack killed seven people in an eastern Ukrainian town and a separate attack left two others dead in a southern village, Kyiv said on Monday.

A Russian ballistic missile attack on the town of Merefa, outside Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv, killed seven civilians and wounded dozens, regional authorities said. Journalists in Merefa saw several bodies strewn in the street, covered by blankets and white sheets — with shops, houses and cars damaged.

Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov first reported that five people had been killed but later said that two men had died from their wounds in hospital. The other victims were two more men and three women, Synegubov said. Igor Kolodyazhny, 41, said he left home 10 minutes before his wife.

When he heard the explosion, he said he “quickly jumped into the car” and drove back to her. “I called her and she did not answer,” he added, before finding out she was killed. His wife, also 41, leaves behind two children aged six and 16.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2026