BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has moved to obtain further details about a proposed short-term ceasefire put forward by Russia, as hostilities continued to escalate across multiple regions and diplomatic tensions deepened over disputed grain shipments.
In a statement released on Thursday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv had instructed its officials to engage with the team of U.S. President Donald Trump to clarify the specifics of the proposal, which reportedly emerged during a recent conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Kremlin, Putin suggested a temporary halt in fighting to coincide with Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, an annual commemoration marking the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II. The proposal, however, remains vague, with Russian officials offering limited detail on its scope or duration.
“We need to understand exactly what is being proposed,” Zelenskyy said, indicating uncertainty over whether the ceasefire would amount to a brief pause for ceremonial purposes in Moscow or a more substantive step toward de-escalation. Ukrainian officials have consistently advocated for a broader and longer-lasting cessation of hostilities rather than symbolic or narrowly timed pauses.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that the idea of a ceasefire tied to Victory Day had been raised in discussions with Washington. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later stressed that no final decision had been made and that any determination would ultimately rest with Putin, reinforcing the ambiguity surrounding the initiative.
As diplomatic channels sought clarity, violence on the ground showed little sign of abating. Overnight Russian strikes hit several Ukrainian cities, resulting in casualties and infrastructure damage. In the central city of Dnipro, a drone attack killed one person and injured five others, according to regional officials, who reported damage to residential buildings, vehicles, and commercial property.
Further south, in the port city of Odesa, waves of drone strikes targeted civilian areas and infrastructure, wounding around 20 people. Local authorities said Ukrainian air defenses intercepted many of the incoming drones, but debris and direct impacts caused fires and damage to residential buildings, a hotel, a kindergarten, and administrative facilities. Emergency services later brought multiple fires under control.
At the same time, Ukraine has intensified its own operations within Russian territory. Ukrainian security officials reported that drones struck industrial targets in Russia’s Perm region in the Ural Mountains for a second consecutive day, disrupting operations at a major oil refinery. The facility, located more than 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine’s borders, represents one of the deeper strikes into Russian territory since the start of the conflict.
Regional governor Dmitry Makhonin acknowledged that an industrial site had been hit but downplayed the impact, stating there were no casualties and no significant damage. Independent verification of the extent of disruption remained limited.
In southern Russia, authorities in the Krasnodar region reported that a fire at an oil refinery in the Black Sea port city of Tuapse—sparked by a Ukrainian drone attack—had been extinguished after burning for nearly two days. The incident led to oil products spilling into surrounding areas, underscoring the growing reach of Ukrainian strikes against energy infrastructure.
Ukraine’s navy also reported overnight operations in the Kerch Strait, claiming that sea drones successfully struck two Russian vessels, including a patrol boat and another military craft. The waterway is strategically significant, linking mainland Russia to Crimea via the Kerch Bridge, a key logistical route since Russia’s annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
Alongside the military developments, a separate diplomatic dispute unfolded involving a cargo vessel suspected by Ukraine of transporting grain taken from Russian-occupied territories. The ship, which had been anchored near Israel’s port of Haifa, departed without unloading its cargo, according to maritime tracking data and Ukrainian officials.
Israeli importers reportedly declined to accept the shipment amid the controversy, forcing the supplier to seek an alternative destination. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the outcome, describing it as evidence that Kyiv’s diplomatic and legal efforts were having an effect.
The episode had threatened to strain relations between Ukraine and Israel, with Zelenskyy earlier warning of potential sanctions should the cargo be accepted. Israeli authorities had opened an investigation into the shipment, reflecting the sensitivity surrounding trade linked to contested territories.
The combination of ongoing military escalation, uncertain diplomatic overtures, and geopolitical frictions highlights the fragile and complex state of the conflict. While discussions of a temporary ceasefire have emerged at the highest political levels, the continued exchange of strikes suggests that any pause—if agreed—may be limited in scope and unlikely to alter the broader trajectory of the war in the near term.
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