Ukrainian Intelligence Warns Russia ‘May Be Particularly Active’ on May 9

Ukraine’s military Intelligence urged civilians to heed “all air alerts” on Tuesday, warning Russian attacks on cities could further intensify during the Kremlin's holiday celebrations.

May 9 is Victory Day in Russia, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II and is marked every year by a massive military parade in Moscow.

Speaking exclusively to Kyiv Post, Andriy Yusov, said: “Speaking of May 9, this holiday is one of the critical elements of Putin’s ideology, and of course, Russian propaganda intensifies on these days, which means that the Russian army may be particularly active and resort to certain provocations.”

Yusov’s comments come just hours after what the Mayor of Kyiv has described as “the most massive attack on Kyiv since the beginning of the war.”

Overnight, Russia launched 35 drones at Kyiv, all of which were shot down by Ukraine’s air defenses during an exceptionally noisy few hours full of explosions and anti-aircraft fire.

Yusov said: “While the entire democratic world, the international community with Ukraine are celebrating the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation in memory of the tragedy of World War II, Russians have launched missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, mostly on civilian targets.

“Despite the fact that almost all targets [Russian missiles] have been destroyed and all Shahid drones fired at Ukraine have been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, the threat of missile and kamikaze drone attacks remain,” he said.

More on this topic

EU Pledges Lasting Support at ‘Historic’ Kyiv Meeting

The EU’s 27 nations have remained broadly united through the 19 months of war on their support for Ukraine, hitting Russia with 11 rounds of sanctions and spending billions of euros on arms for Kyiv.

“The Ukrainian air defense forces will work to eliminate them – and civilians should stay alert to all air raid warnings.”