Zelensky says Kyiv offered May 6 ceasefire; accuses Moscow of fresh attacks, claims strikes deep inside Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Kyiv had offered Russia a ceasefire starting May 6, accused Moscow of answering with fresh attacks rather than a pause, and publicly warned foreign delegations against traveling to Moscow for Victory Day events, as he also claimed new Ukrainian long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory. In a post on his official Telegram channel, Zelensky said, “We proposed silence starting at midnight on May 6.” Referring to states he said were planning to send representatives to Moscow, he added: “We do not recommend it.”

In the same statement, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had struck targets in the Caspian Sea region, the Perm region, the Bryansk sector and Tuapse, as well as other “special oil facilities.” He said one strike in the Perm region hit an oil industry site “more than 1,500 kilometers” from Ukraine’s border, underscoring the reach Kyiv says it can now achieve inside Russia. Zelensky also said a target in the Caspian Sea region was “a missile ship capable of launching Kalibrs,” while presenting the attacks alongside his message that Russia had ignored Ukraine’s ceasefire offer.

A Ukrainian General Staff statement reported May 7 said that in the Dagestan basing area of Kaspiysk, a small missile ship was struck. The statement said, “In the area of the basing point ‘Kaspiysk’ … was hit. The extent of the damage is being clarified.” Those claimed strike results, especially the alleged hit on the missile ship, were not independently verified in the reporting summarized here. As of Thursday, there was no Russian federal Defense Ministry confirmation in available reporting matching Ukraine’s account of ship damage.

The timing matters because the exchange came just before Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. Major news outlets, including The Associated Press, reported that Ukraine had announced a unilateral ceasefire to begin at 12 a.m. local time on the night of May 5-6, and Ukrainian officials said Russia did not reciprocate and continued attacks. The immediate backdrop was a Russian proposal for a temporary halt around the Victory Day commemorations. Zelensky cast Kyiv’s message in both diplomatic and military terms, saying on Telegram: “Russia has fought to the point where even its main parade now depends on us. And this is a clear signal: Enough is enough.”

The locations Zelensky named fit a broader Ukrainian campaign of long-range strikes on Russian military and energy infrastructure, aimed at complicating Russia’s war-fighting capacity. Perm is significant because it lies deep inside Russia, and the stated distance of more than 1,500 kilometers highlights how far from the border Ukraine says it can hit. Tuapse, on the Black Sea, is a major Russian oil hub that has been repeatedly targeted in recent reporting. Separate reports have cited fires or damage at oil facilities in Perm and repeated strikes on the Tuapse refinery and terminal in late April and early May, including reports citing Russian regional officials. Those accounts provide background showing the areas have recently been under pressure, but they do not independently confirm the specific damage Zelensky claimed on May 7.