The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) announced on Saturday, Sept. 5, that combat operations are ongoing following Russia’s refusal to agree to a proposed mutual ceasefire between Sept. 5 and Sept. 9.
The General Staff of the AFU told Ukrainska Pravda and Suspilne that a unilateral ceasefire is impossible because it would endanger military personnel, adding that defensive tasks are being executed in full according to plan.
Dmytro Filatov, commander of the 1st Separate Assault Regiment, stated that while the General Staff issued orders restricting strikes at an operational depth, no limitations were imposed on tactical-level combat.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed its refusal to observe a temporary truce, publishing a report on Saturday detailing its overnight combined strikes on industrial facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region and logistics and energy infrastructure in the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
Overnight strikes and proposed diplomatic pause
The Russian Defense Ministry’s claims correspond with reported strikes across southern and central Ukraine early Saturday.
A Russian ballistic missile struck an industrial enterprise in Kamianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing four people and injuring five others. Regional authorities reported that three individuals were hospitalized, including a 30-year-old woman requiring intensive care.
In Mykolaiv, consecutive jet-powered “Shahed” drone strikes hit an Epicenter shopping center late Friday and early Saturday, injuring a 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl and triggering a large fire.
The Saturday attacks follow a Friday strike that damaged a nine-story residential building in Boryspil, Kyiv region, where a fire broke out on the roof and in an upper-floor apartment.
The sustained aerial campaign comes despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Friday announcement proposing a mutual halt to airstrikes.
The proposal was intended to accommodate the upcoming diplomatic mission of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are scheduled to visit Moscow and Kyiv this weekend.