Zelenskyy: Russian forces are not complying with U.S.-brokered three-day ceasefire
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on May 10 that Russian forces were still attacking during the May 9–11 ceasefire Trump said both sides accepted. (usnews.com) - Zelenskyy said Ukraine logged more than 140 frontline strikes, 10 assaults, and 850-plus drone attacks, showing Moscow was not “even particularly trying.” (ukrinform.net) - The truce still matters because a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap is being prepared, but battlefield mistrust is already undermining wider peace talks. (usnews.com)
Ceasefires in this war usually fail for a simple reason — nobody trusts the other side to stop first. That is basically what happened again over the weekend. Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a three-day ceasefire running from May 9 through May 11, tied to Russia’s Victory Day holiday and paired with a planned 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap. (usnews.com) But by Saturday evening, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was saying Russian forces were still firing on the front and still using drones, even if the biggest long-range barrages had eased. (ukrinform.net) ### What was the ceasefire supposed to be? Trump announced on May 8 that both sides had agreed to pause “all kinetic activity” for three days, from May 9 to May 11, and that the package would also include a major prisoner exchange. (usnews.com) The timing mattered — May 9 is Victory Day in Russia, and Moscow wanted calm around the Red Square parade. Ukraine had already floated its own broader ceasefire idea earlier in the week, but the U.S.-backed version was narrower and date-specific. ### What does Zelenskyy say Russia did? Zelenskyy’s line is that Russia never really stopped. In his May 10 evening address, he said there had been no calm in frontline areas and warned that if Russia returned to full-scale warfare, Ukraine’s response would be immediate. (usnews.com) Earlier, Ukrainian statements said Russian forces had carried out more than 140 strikes on Ukrainian positions, 10 assault actions, and more than 850 drone attacks during the supposed pause. ### Was there any reduction in fighting at all? Yes — but only in a limited sense. Zelenskyy said Ukraine held back from long-range retaliatory strikes because there were no large-scale Russian attacks of that kind during the period he was describing. That suggests the truce may have reduced some deep-strike activity. But the catch is that a ceasefire that still allows artillery, assaults, and tactical drone attacks to keep happening does not feel like a ceasefire to soldiers or civilians near the line. (usnews.com) ### What is Russia saying? Moscow is making the mirror-image case. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine committed more than 1,000 ceasefire violations and claimed Russian forces only responded in kind. Russian-installed officials in occupied territory also reported injuries from Ukrainian shelling. (president.gov.ua) So both sides are using the same argument — we were observing the pause, the other side broke it first, and our fire was retaliation. ### Why are drones the key detail here? Because drones make “partial peace” almost impossible. A government can avoid a giant missile barrage and still keep pressure on the battlefield with FPV drones, reconnaissance drones, and short-range strike systems. It is a bit like calling a timeout while still throwing punches in the clinch. (click2houston.com) The headline number — 850-plus drone attacks — matters because it shows how modern fighting can continue even when leaders say a pause is in effect. ### Does this kill the diplomacy? Not entirely. The prisoner swap still appears to be moving, and Zelenskyy said the U.S. had taken responsibility for guarantees tied to recently announced arrangements. But it does make the bigger project — a durable ceasefire that could lead to real negotiations — much harder. (click2houston.com) If a three-day pause built around a parade cannot hold, a broader deal will need tighter monitoring, clearer terms, and consequences for violations. ### Why does the timing matter so much? Because this was never just about military quiet. Russia wanted a secure Victory Day weekend. Trump wanted a visible diplomatic step. Ukraine wanted to show it could cooperate with U.S. efforts without giving Russia a free pass. That mix created a truce that was politically useful to everyone for different reasons — but maybe too thin to survive contact with the actual battlefield. (ukrinform.net) ### Bottom line? The three-day ceasefire did not fully collapse into the worst possible violence, but it also did not produce real silence. That matters because it shows the central problem is unchanged — both sides may still see limited force as compatible with diplomacy, and that is exactly how ceasefires die. (click2houston.com) (usnews.com) (president.gov.ua)
