Putin's three-day ceasefire comes into effect
A three-day ceasefire announced by President Putin has come into effect to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Day.
According to RIA Novosti on May 8, the ceasefire announced by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin, took effect on the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory.
Based on humanitarian considerations, Russia announced a ceasefire on the days of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, starting from 0:00 on May 8 to 0:00 on May 10 (Moscow time).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the purpose of the previously proposed Russian Easter ceasefire, as well as the current initiative to declare a ceasefire during the May 8-10 holiday, was to test Kiev's readiness to seek a lasting and sustainable peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Mr. Peskov emphasized that the fire will stop, but if the Kiev government does not make any goodwill moves, and continues to attempt to attack Russian positions or targets, then an appropriate response from Moscow will be given immediately.
According to Russia, the previous Easter ceasefire was also violated by the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, although Kiev had agreed to it before the ceasefire took effect. The Easter ceasefire was declared by President Vladimir Putin and took effect from 6:00 p.m. on April 19 until 0:00 a.m. on April 21. The Russian president said that he thought Ukraine would follow Russia's example.
At the same time, Mr. Putin noted that the Russian army must be ready to repel any ceasefire violations and provocations by the enemy. The Defense Ministry later reported that during the ceasefire, 4,900 ceasefire violations by the Ukrainian side were recorded.
