Despite Western calls for a 30-day ceasefire, the Kremlin has ignored the proposal and, instead, launched 166 attacks along the front line in the past 24 hours alone, with the heaviest fighting taking place in the Pokrovsk sector, where Ukrainian forces repelled 60 assaults.
Another 44 attacks occurred in the Lyman and Novopavlivka directions. Clashes also continue on the Kursk bridgehead, according to the General Staff’s morning briefing on Tuesday, May 13.
On the evening of May 12, Russian forces launched 10 Shahed-type attack drones and several decoy UAVs at Ukraine — all were successfully shot down.
In the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian troops repelled seven enemy attacks near Vovchansk and Krasne Pershe. Five more assaults took place in the Kupyansk direction, particularly near Pishchane and Hlushkivka.
The fiercest fighting was reported in the Lyman sector, with 20 enemy assaults across more than ten settlements. In the Siversk direction, Russian troops tried to break through near Hryhorivka and Bilohorivka six times — without success.
Four clashes were recorded near Vasyukivka, Chasiv Yar, and toward Bila Hora in the Kramatorsk sector. In the Toretsk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled nine attacks near Petriivka, Toretsk, and Diliivka.
The Pokrovsk sector remains the hottest, with Ukrainian defenders halting 60 enemy assaults across more than 15 settlements. In the Novopavlivka direction, 24 Russian attacks were repelled near Bahatyr, Kostiantynopil, and Novosilky.
Russian troops carried out six unsuccessful assaults on the Orikhiv front, while the Huliaipole axis remained relatively quiet. In the Dnipro River area, the enemy attempted four advances — all of them unsuccessful.
On the Kursk front, Ukrainian forces engaged in nine clashes, endured 254 artillery strikes, and faced 18 airstrikes involving 20 guided bombs. No signs of offensive enemy groupings were detected in the Volyn and Polissia regions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defense Forces continue inflicting heavy losses on enemy manpower and equipment, disrupting Russian logistics deep behind the front.
A Kyiv Post correspondent reporting early Tuesday from a secret location near Pokrovsk confirmed: there is no ceasefire in sight.
“What ceasefire? There is no ceasefire,” laughed Dmytro Filatov, commander of the First Separate Assault Regiment based in eastern Ukraine.
Filatov said on Saturday he was aware of the supposed unilateral ceasefire called for May 8-10 by Russian leader Vladimir Putin last week in honor of Victory Day, but saw no signs it ever took place.
“Despite the fact that I heard something about this ceasefire, we are still fighting against Russian attempts to advance and attack our positions. From the morning of May 8 until now,” he told Kyiv Post during an exclusive interview, on the last day of the ceasefire window, from a command center near the stronghold of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
“My men have been under attack, nonstop, for years,” he said.
Filatov was recently elevated to regimental commander when his battalion was promoted to a regiment last month, and he now oversees several hundred soldiers in one of the hottest areas along the front line.
Losing the former transportation hub, which sits in a strategically advantageous location, would open up a much larger swath of land to Russian fire if Ukrainians are forced to pull back.
“There was no difference this week,” he confirmed, noting that he was unsure even when the halt was meant to occur. He said all of the ceasefires announced this year have been the same – nonexistent on the battlefield.
While the West awaits diplomatic progress, Putin has refrained from giving a clear response to the proposed ceasefire, stating only his intention to hold “direct talks” with Kyiv in Istanbul on May 15.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated his readiness for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, offering to travel to Turkey for negotiations, but said Moscow has not yet respond.
“I’ve just spoken with President Erdoğan of Türkiye. It was a meaningful conversation. I’m grateful to the President for the support. I reaffirmed to him my readiness for direct and substantive negotiations with Putin,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
As previously reported by Kyiv Post, Trump on Monday teased the possibility of attending Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Turkey on Thursday.
Trump said he “was thinking about actually flying over there” but added he “[doesn’t] know where [he’s] going to be on Thursday.”
“I believe the two leaders will be there. I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday. I’ve got so many meetings. I was thinking about actually flying over there,” he said.
Zelensky confirmed on Sunday that he would attend in person.
One day after Putin hosted foreign guests in Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day parade, EU leaders – including those from the UK, Germany, France, and Poland – met Zelensky in Kyiv, urging Russia to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire by Monday or face further sanctions.
On Sunday, Putin proposed holding direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15, without addressing the ceasefire demand.
This follows Russia’s violation of a self-declared 72-hour ceasefire that coincides with the May 9 celebrations.
Responding on Monday to growing pressure, the Kremlin said: “This language of ultimatums is unacceptable for Russia. It doesn’t work. You can’t talk to Russia like that.”