Russian strikes kill 21 in Ukraine despite suggested ceasefire

Smoke rises from a damaged building following a Russian air attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Photo / Darya Nazarova, AFP

Russian attacks on cities across Ukraine killed 21 people - hours ahead of a Ukrainian-suggested ceasefire.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Moscow’s “utter cynicism” for launching deadly strikes while seeking a truce to stage its May 9 patriotic parade.

In Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s southern city close to the frontline, 12 people were killed in an attack Zelenskyy described as having “absolutely no military justification”.

Moscow also pounded Dnipro and Kramatorsk.

Russia has demanded that Kyiv agree to a ceasefire for its May 9 World War II Victory Day commemorations.

Kyiv has instead said it would halt fire over May 6.

But Russia attacked the city of Dnipro just hours before Kyiv’s deadline.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiga said on X: “With mere hours until Ukraine’s ceasefire proposal comes into force, Russia shows no signs of preparing to end hostilities. On the contrary, Moscow intensifies terror.”

Zelenskyy said four civilians were killed in Dnipro.

Five others, he said, were killed when Russia attacked the centre of the eastern city of Kramatorsk - the last hub under Kyiv’s control in the embattled Donetsk region.

At least 70 people were also wounded in the strikes, according to numbers released by officials.

The strikes were the deadliest in weeks.

In Russia, officials said a Ukrainian drone attack on the Volga city of Cheboksary killed two people. Regional authorities said 32 people were wounded after the drone slammed into an apartment block, hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine.

- AFP