Sawt Falasteen - Putin's order for three-day truce with Ukraine enters force

It was not immediately clear whether either side was observing the ceasefire, even with world leaders -- including China's Xi Jinping, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic -- in Moscow for commemorations of the end of World War II.

Putin unilaterally ordered the move to coincide with Moscow's Victory Day parade on Friday. Ukraine never agreed to the proposal, has dismissed it as theatrics and called instead for a 30-day ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump has sought to end Moscow's three-year military assault on Ukraine since his inauguration in January, but has failed to ease hostilities between the enemies.

Hours before Putin's order was scheduled to enter force, Moscow and Kyiv staged aerial attacks, prompting airport closures in Russia and leaving at least two dead in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has said Russian forces will honour Putin's order for the duration of the holiday, but will respond "immediately" if Ukraine launches any fire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his call for a 30-day ceasefire in his evening address on Wednesday.

"We are not withdrawing this proposal, which could give diplomacy a chance. But the world is not seeing any response from Russia," he said.

- 'Direct negotiation' -

Putin announced the truce last month as a "humanitarian" gesture, following pressure from the United States to halt his three-year assault on Ukraine.

The Russian leader rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional ceasefire in March, and has since offered only slim contributions to Trump's peace efforts.

Ukraine has said it does not believe Russia will adhere to this truce and accused Moscow of hundreds of violations during a previous, 30-hour ceasefire ordered by Putin for Easter.

Russia, which launched a full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in 2022, fired over 100 drones and multiple ballistic missiles at its neighbour between late Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, killing a mother and her son, Kyiv said.

The White House has become increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress towards a peace deal between the warring sides, despite US President Donald Trump's efforts.

US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called on the two to enter direct talks. "We think it's probably impossible for us to mediate this entirely without at least some direct negotiation between the two," he said.

- 'Peaceful atmosphere' -

Russia marks Victory Day with a grand parade of military equipment on Red Square, as well as an address from Putin.

More than 20 world leaders were expected in Moscow for the May 9 parade.

"Our military and special services are taking all necessary measures to ensure that the celebration of the great victory takes place in a calm, stable and peaceful atmosphere," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

He also said authorities had jammed internet connections ahead of the parade, citing the threat from Kyiv.

"We need to take into account that dangerous neighbourhood that we have," Peskov said, referring to Ukraine.

"As long as guests are here, until May 10, we need to be ready for restrictions," he added, calling on Muscovites to be understanding.

The Kremlin's forces occupy a fifth of Ukraine and this spring hit the country with a string of deadly attacks on civilian areas.

- 'Nothing scares us' -

Russians from outside Moscow visiting the heavily policed capital for the parade appeared unfazed.

"We are from Rostov-on-Don. Nothing scares us," said 22-year-old student Valeria Pavlova. The southern city serves as a command and logistics hub for the Ukraine offensive and has regularly been targeted.

"It's much calmer here," she added.

But scenes at airports in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other cities were more chaotic.

Ukraine launched a barrage of drones at Russia earlier in the day, forcing airports to halt traffic with 60,000 people seeing their flights disrupted, according to Moscow.

Kyiv's drone attacks disrupted some 350 flights Tuesday and Wednesday, Russia's Association of Tour Operators said. Social media videos showed people sleeping on the floor and airports with rows of over a dozen planes queueing on the tarmac.

Ukraine's airspace has been forced to close since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST