AL HAYAT - Ukraine, Russia trade aerial attacks ahead of WWII victory parade

The Kremlin has announced a unilateral three-day truce -- set to start at 2100 GMT on Wednesday -- to coincide with its grand May 9 military parade on Red Square, marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

China's President Xi Jinping and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are among 29 foreign leaders expected in Moscow to mark the occasion, which has become Russia's most important public holiday under President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine has dismissed Putin's order to his troops to halt their attacks as a "manipulation" and "game" designed to protect his parade rather than a genuine peace measure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire -- a proposal back by US President Donald Trump and previously rejected by Putin.

Zelensky called for more pressure on Moscow to end its invasion.

"Only significantly intensified pressure on Russia and stronger sanctions can pave the way to diplomacy. Any measures depriving the aggressor of resources to wage war must be implemented to bring lasting peace," Zelensky said on social media.

Hours before Putin's order was set to come into effect, Russia unleashed a barrage of drone attacks across Ukraine.

Zelensky said Russia fired 142 drones and four ballistic missiles.

"Unfortunately, there are fatalities -- a woman and her son," Zelensky said, referring to the Kyiv attack.

The emergency services said falling debris from a drone attack on the central Shevchenkivsky district sparked a fire in an apartment block.

AFP journalists in the capital heard loud explosions over the city at around 1:00 am (2200 GMT).

In the morning, a first-aid tent had been erected next to the charred facade of the building, blackened by the fire and with windows blown out on its top floors.

Men in camouflage were inspecting debris from a fallen drone part.

- Moscow airports closed -

Attempted drone attacks by Ukraine across Russia triggered hours of travel chaos, as airports across the western part of the country were repeatedly closed on Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday.

Arrivals and departures from Moscow's main Sheremetyevo international airport were suspended for hours overnight, aviation authorities said.

"The restrictions were imposed to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights," Artyom Korenyako, press secretary for the Federal Aviation Transport Agency, wrote on Telegram.

Moscow regularly halts air traffic in areas where its air defence systems are operating, but the scale of the forced closures has escalated significantly in the run-up to Friday's parade.

Russia's defence ministry reported downing dozens of Ukrainian drones targeting the country, including Moscow, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ukraine claimed it had hit a fibre-optic plant in Saransk, a central Russian city far from the borders, where the authorities announced a state of emergency, cancelling all lessons in schools -- but without confirming damage to the plant.

Numerous unverified photos and videos on social media shared by locals showed smoke rising from an industrial building and multiple drone flyovers.

On the streets of Moscow, AFP reporters noticed a significant police presence, and mobile internet in the capital was being jammed.

Since Russia invaded in February 2022, Ukraine has on several occasions launched attacks at the Russian capital and other major cities and infrastructure sites hundreds of miles from its border.

Kyiv calls it fair retaliation for Moscow's daily missile and drone barrages on its own cities.

Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia invaded, with towns and cities across Ukraine's south and east levelled under intense Russian aerial attacks.

Moscow's army controls around 20 percent of the country, including the Crimean peninsula it annexed in 2014.

A wave of deadly Russian ballistic missile strikes on civilian areas in April triggered fresh outrage in Kyiv and saw Trump issue a rare rebuke to Putin.

Ukraine has said it cannot be held responsible for the safety of foreign leaders visiting Moscow for the parade, in an apparent rejection of Putin's truce proposal.

W.Subaie--al-Hayat