On the day that foreign dignitaries began to arrive in Moscow—including 29 heads of state/government—to attend the May 9 Victory Day celebrations, including a large military parade, Ukrainian attack drones and other weapons began raining down on Russia, including Moscow, disrupting Moscow’s regional airports. The Russian Defense Ministry reported shooting down 524 Ukrainian attack drones. Another wave of drones prompted renewed temporary airport closures across the region. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency announced that flight operations were suspended from 7:15 p.m. local time at Domodedovo Airport, the biggest one in Moscow, as well as at Zhukovsky, and Kaluga airports, whose operations were suspended earlier, reported the Kyiv Independent.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that Russian air defense units destroyed at least 14 Ukrainian drones from 10 p.m. on May 6 (1900 GMT) until Wednesday morning, May 7 reported Reuters.
In addition to the drones, Russian air defenses also took down two HIMARS rockets, five long-range Neptune guided missiles and six JDAM precision-guided aerial bombs. Aerial assaults have increased in the lead-up to a unilateral ceasefire declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is scheduled to take effect from midnight on May 7-8 through midnight on May 10-11, reported RT.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on May 7 that Russia still plans to offer the three-day ceasefire. By ramping up drone strikes on Russia, “the Kiev regime continues to demonstrate its essence, its inclination to terrorist actions,” Peskov said.
