Ukraine has announced that Russia was ramping up attacks along the front line, calling President Vladimir Putin’s claim of a three-day ceasefire starting that morning a total deceit. The Russian military claimed it was responding to Ukrainian strikes while still following the ceasefire, which Putin had set to coincide with a big parade in Moscow for Victory Day, celebrated every May 9 to remember the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

This year, Putin hosted China’s President Xi Jinping as a special guest, who arrived in Moscow before the celebrations. Xi is the most prominent among several world leaders attending, showing that even with international sanctions and widespread criticism of Putin’s so-called ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, the Russian leader still has allies.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on Thursday, ‘As we expected, Putin’s so-called ceasefire is just a joke.’ He pointed out that Russian troops are still attacking all along the front line, with 734 ceasefire violations and 63 assault operations happening between midnight and noon. Sybiga said that Ukraine would take action and keep its allies updated. Even though Kyiv never agreed to the three-day ceasefire, Russia claimed that Ukraine broke it. The Russian Defense Ministry stated in a briefing, ‘The Russian Armed Forces are following the ceasefire rules, which ban attacks from planes, missiles, artillery, or drones.’ They argued that, despite the ceasefire being announced, Ukrainian forces have not stopped their assaults on Russian troops.

Earlier, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russian guided bombs were dropped in the northern region of Sumy.

Ukrainian airspace has stayed clear of missile attacks or drones. Still, overnight, enemy forces increased their tactical air operations, using guided bombs in the Sumy area, as reported by the air force after several morning launches. Earlier, Russia hit a residential area close to Bilopillya, which is near the border of Sumy and Russia’s Kursk region, according to Ukraine’s emergency services.