Act One: Vladimir Putin demands a two-day ceasefire for May 8-9 in order to be able to throw his annual Victory Day Parade on the 9th without having to worry about possible drone strikes from Ukraine. His Defense Ministry even warns of “a massive retaliatory strike . . . on the center of Kyiv” in the event of an attack on the parade. [RFE/RL, May 4, 2026.]

Act Two: Volodymyr Zelensky counters with a proposal for a ceasefire beginning even earlier — midnight on May 6th. Putin does not respond.

Act Three: On May 6th, Vladimir Putin’s military launches scores of drone and missile strikes across Ukraine, including a drone hit on a kindergarten in Sumy. More than 20 deaths are reported across the country as a result of the strikes. [RFE/RL, May 6, 2026.]

Act Four: Ukraine responds with a strike on a Russian weapons factory that manufactures navigational systems for missiles, resulting in a report of two deaths.

Act Five: ???

*. *. *

Once again, Putin has ignored, and violated, the offer of a ceasefire from Zelensky — despite having been the first to propose it. Does he still expect his original demand to be honored?

Ukraine’s counter-offensive actions on Russian territory have been focused on military and strategic targets, such as oil refineries and weapons factories; they have been careful to avoid, to the extent possible, civilian areas and infrastructure. It is not likely that they would take aim at a patriotic celebration that annually draws thousands of civilian spectators.

So why was Putin determined to prevent an event that had not actually been threatened? Is it simply his ingrained paranoia? Was he assuming that Zelensky could be capable of the sort of thing he himself has been known to do in the past?

Or might he be thinking of using the opportunity to create an incident — even a minor one — that could then be blamed on Ukraine as an excuse to “retaliate” and accelerate the ongoing war?

Hopefully not. But all we can do now is hope for the best.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/6/26