A storm before the expected calm. New Russian attacks against Ukraine left at least 22 people dead this Tuesday, May 5, in one of the worst assaults of the year, and just as the time approached for kyiv's proposal for an indefinite ceasefire announced for midnight. The attacks come after kyiv and Moscow separately announced truces with different dates. Meanwhile, a part of the Russian capital and its surroundings was disconnected after the Kremlin applied restrictions on the internet, it said, for security reasons.

First modification: 05/05/2026 - 19:33 Last modification: 05/05/2026 - 19:39

Lethal bombings and an internet blockade in Moscow precede an announced ceasefire.

The hours before the truce promoted by the Ukrainian Government have left multiple reports from the battle front. The latest of them speaks of at least 22 people dead in Zaporizhia, in the southeast of the country, as reported by the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov, this Tuesday, May 5.

12 of the victims died in what is considered one of the worst attacks so far this year. Residential buildings, a mechanical workshop and a car wash were damaged during the attack, which also caused fires in a store and an unidentified business, the governor described.

The images he shared from the scene showed a severely damaged building, with flames and smoke. Likewise, cars were seen burning in flames, while emergency services helped evacuate bloodied people.

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Before this offensive, five people lost their lives in the early morning due to Russian missile and drone attacks against gas production facilities in the Ukrainian regions of Poltava and Kharkiv.

Among the victims were three employees of the state energy company Naftogaz and two rescuers from the emergency services, while 39 people were injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Minister of the Interior of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, explained that the two rescuers died in a double attack on the same point, after they arrived to extinguish a fire caused by the initial blow against the Poltava gas plant.

This practice, known in the jargon of war as double-tap bombing, is particularly lethal for health personnel and journalists, the first to go to a place after being bombed.

"These are deliberate attacks against those who save lives," Serhiy Koretskyi, CEO of Naftogaz, said on Telegram. For this same reason, Zelensky stated that the double bombing of Poltava is an "especially vile" aggression.

Koretskyi claimed that Naftogaz facilities suffered significant damage and production losses in the attack. Since the beginning of the year, the state company's headquarters have been attacked 107 times, according to the company.

In parallel, a Russian airstrike against the city of Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, left at least three dead and five wounded on Tuesday, according to the regional governor.

The Russian Defense Ministry explained that it rammed Ukrainian energy facilities in retaliation for attacks on civilian infrastructure, according to Russian news agencies.

This response did not convince President Zelensky, who defined it as "absolute cynicism to ask for a ceasefire to hold propaganda events while missile and drone attacks are carried out every day leading up to it."

Russian forces fired 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 164 attack drones into Ukraine overnight from Monday to Tuesday, including a variant of the jet-powered Shahed drone, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

However, the Ukrainian army has also launched strong drone attacks in the run-up to the ceasefire promoted by kyiv, in which at least two Russians were killed and 32 wounded in the Chuvashia region, TASS reported, citing the regional governor.

Read also"Russia loses ground for the first time since 2024": 'kyiv Post'

The internet is turned off in Moscow

Thousands of residents in Moscow were unable to make electronic payments, use instant messaging or navigate by GPS on Tuesday due to restrictions on mobile internet decreed by the Kremlin, as a security measure in view of the May 9 Victory Day celebrations.

The Government of Vladimir Putin assured that the measure seeks to prevent attacks with Ukrainian drones, which require internet connectivity to be guided in real time, within the framework of the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, on February 24, 2022.

Mobile operators and Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, warned of possible problems with mobile internet in the coming days. Taxi driver and delivery unions have reported complications in working.

Limiting the internet has become an increasingly frequent measure by the Russian government, which has forced millions of people to resort to VPNs to stay connected, a policy that Putin's opponents denounce as a mechanism of population control and information coercion.

On this occasion, the perimeter of the network blockade was much larger than the one that took place last March, which lasted for almost three weeks and caused great discontent among its inhabitants. Although the Ministry of Digital Development reported on Tuesday afternoon that the internet had been restored in Moscow, some regions far from the capital continued to have connectivity problems.

The ministry earlier told the state news agency, TASS, that it could launch so-called "white lists", which include those companies and resources approved by the Kremlin that do not raise security suspicions. This group, which includes banking, taxi, map and other essential services applications, could have access to the network during restriction periods.

Moscow's four airports also suspended operations on Tuesday due to unspecified security concerns.

Ukrainian long-range drones can fly from command centers to infrastructure across the border, well behind the "kill zones" created by short-range drones on the front lines.

Read alsoExchange of attacks between Russia and Ukraine impacts residential areas

Two truces, one war

In the early hours of this Tuesday, kyiv insisted on its proposal for a truce with Russia between May 6 and 7, through the head of the presidential office, Kirilo Budanov, who wrote on social networks: "If the ceasefire announced by the president (Zelensky) receives a reciprocal response, we will continue to comply with it. And it will give us at least a small spark of hope to achieve a lasting peace."

The truce of the Ukrainian Government, as announced by Zelensky on Monday, May 4, would come into force at midnight this Tuesday, as a counterproposal to the Kremlin, which hours before announced a 72-hour cessation of hostilities, but between May 7 and 9, in an attempt to shield the most important holiday in the country.

The Victory Day parade, which commemorates the triumph of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany, is one of the most symbolic propaganda events for the Kremlin, with lavish displays of weapons and military equipment. However, this May 9 will take place without tanks, missiles or heavy weapons for the first time in almost two decades, amid an upsurge in attacks from Ukraine, mainly against energy infrastructure.

The same safety concerns have led to smaller parades being restricted or canceled in other cities around the country.

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Budanov stressed that the truce proposed by kyiv "is not subject to specific dates to impose ideological dogmas, but rather seeks to save human lives and restore security."

The Kremlin, which did not react to its counterpart's response, accompanied its ceasefire proposal with a warning about a "massive missile attack on the center of kyiv" in case Ukraine hits Moscow during the Victory Day celebrations.

On previous occasions, Moscow has also declared brief ceasefires during holiday periods, most recently during Orthodox Easter.

Read alsoRussia and Ukraine announce separate truces with different deadlines and objectives

With Reuters, AP and EFE

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