Ukraine-Russia warfare newest: Putin and Zelensky declare rival ceasefires forward of Moscow’s Victory Day parade

Russian authorities in Tuapse have announced an official list of bomb shelters for civilians for the first time, mentioning more than 186 shelters residents can turn to in the event of attacks.

The Black Sea port of Tuapse was attacked by Ukraine on Friday for the fourth time in ‌16 days as authorities struggled to cope with a mounting environmental disaster from toxic black smoke clouds and oil leaking into the sea.

The strikes are a part of what president Volodymyr Zelensky says is a Ukrainian ​strategy to disrupt Russia’s huge energy industry and knock key sites out of operation for as long as possible.

Tuapse municipality on Monday published a spreadsheet list on its website notifying locals of 186 shelters, most of them situated in the basement of apartment buildings.

Officials said the shelters have a total capacity of about 38,600 in a town of 61,000, reported The Kyiv Independent.

It added that only one out of the total 186 of the listed shelters is accessible to people with disabilities, according to the spreadsheet.

Residents of Tuapse have been warned to stay inside, keep their windows closed, and drink only bottled water as authorities try to foster a sense of solidarity.

The Tuapse refinery has an annual production capacity of about 12 million metric tons, or 240,000 barrels per day, ​turning out naphtha, diesel, fuel oil and vacuum gasoil.

A Russian overnight drone and missile attack killed four people and wounded 31 in Ukraine’s central region of Poltava, while snapping gas supply to thousands, the local governor said this morning.

Direct hits and falling debris ‌were reported at ‌two sites in the Poltava district, ⁠Vitalii Diakivnych said on his Telegram channel.

An industrial enterprise was damaged, he said, ‌cutting of gas ​supply to ‌nearly ⁠3,500 customers. Railway ⁠infrastructure has also been ‌damaged.

The Russian defence ministry has threatened Ukraine with a major attack if Moscow is attacked amid its Victory Day celebrations this week.

Moscow will mark the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War on Friday and Saturday, but it threatened to strike back at Kyiv if it tries to disrupt the Victory Day festivities.

The defence ministry said if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Saturday’s celebrations, Russia will carry out a “massive missile strike on the center of Kyiv”.

It warned the civilian population there and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of “the need to leave the city promptly”.

Russian authorities have started blocking the internet and messaging services on cellphones in Moscow as part of its preparations to hold a secure Victory Day parade this week.

“Just got this text from my Moscow mobile operator: ‘During preparations for and the holding of holiday events from 5-9 May temporary restrictions to mobile internet and text messaging are possible in Moscow and Moscow region. This may cause difficulties with cashless payments, use of ATMs and GPS services.’,” said Steve Rosenberg, a journalist and BBC editor for Russia, based in Moscow.

The notice is similar to the last year’s preparations of military parade by the Russian authorities.

Vladimir Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting 7 May, 2025, and authorities blocked cellphone internet in Moscow for several days to avert Ukrainian drone attacks.

Last year’s parade on the 80th anniversary drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese president Xi Jinping, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico.

Ukraine has credible military and battlefield experience which makes the war-hit nation a strategic asset for Europe and Nato, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb said.

Speaking alongside his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel in Prague yesterday, Stubb called on Europe to shift its focus from “what it can do for Ukraine” to “what Ukraine can do for Europe”.

“We should gradually shift our thinking from ‘how can we help Ukraine’ to ‘how can Ukraine help us,’” Stubb said.

He added that there is “no other army in Europe or in the US that is capable of modern warfare in the way Ukraine is”.

At least two people were reportedly injured after a Russian drone attack on Brovary, a Ukrainian city northeast of Kyiv.

The drone hit residential apartments, damaging windows, the facade of a multi-storey building and a vehicle, said Kyiv regional military administration head Mykola Kalashynk.

“In Brovary, a 34-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were injured as a result of an enemy drone attack. The woman suffered a hand injury from glass fragments. The man sustained a cut wound to his heel,” he said.

Medics have provided all necessary assistance at the scene, regional officials said.

“This is yet another reminder that the enemy targets peaceful life and our homes. I urge everyone: do not ignore air raid alerts. Stay in safe places while the threat remains,” Kalashnyk said.

Ukraine has launched a major missile and drone attack on several regions in Russia, targeting a critical military-industrial site in the western part of the country, reported Telegram media channels.

The attack on Cheboksary in Chuvash republic sparked a massive fire, according to the photos and videos shared on social media by local residents. The fire was reported from JSC VNIIR-Progress, a state institute that produces components for high-precision weapons used in attacks on Ukraine by Russian forces, reported The Kyiv Independent.

A Ukrainian-made FP-5 Flamingo missile was used in the attack, according to Russian Telegram channels. Locals confirmed explosions from the area of the facility after an air raid alert announcing a missile threat.

One person was injured in the attack, local governor Oleg Nikolayev said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the meteorological monitoring equipment at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power ​plant in southeastern Ukraine had been damaged by a ‌drone.

The UN nuclear watchdog said a team of ​its experts had visited the station’s External Radiation Control Laboratory (ERCL), a day ​after the plant’s Russian management said it had been hit by a drone.

“Team observed damage to some of the lab’s meteorological monitoring equipment which is no ​longer operational,” the IAEA said.

The statement said IAEA director general Rafael Grossi had issued a fresh appeal “for maximum ‌military ⁠restraint near all nuclear facilities to avoid safety risks”.

The plant, which now produces no electricity, has been struck several times by drones since the beginning of the conflict. The plant’s management on Sunday said ​damage has been ​minor and that ⁠operations were otherwise unaffected.