Air raid alarms sound throughout Ukraine as May 12 deadline passes with no ceasefire
Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and guided bombs during the night, continuing to launch weapons at various regions after the May 12 deadline for an unconditional ceasefire expired.
Ukraine and European allies on May 10 demanded that Russia accept a full, unconditional ceasefire for 30 days or face new sanctions. Germany warned that the Kremlin had until the end of May 12 to implement the truce.
Russia proceeded to target Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Vinnytsia, and Odesa oblasts with drones after midnight, the Air Force reported. Moscow also launched KAB guided bombs at Sumy Oblast in the northeast.
The overnight threats followed a day of ongoing Russian attacks on the date the ceasefire was supposed to begin. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha informed European allies at a London summit that Russian forces continued attacking Ukrainian positions across the front and injured seven people in an overnight drone strike.
The Kremlin has rejected the call for an unconditional ceasefire as an “ultimatum” and instead invited Ukraine to participate in direct talks in Istanbul later this week. President Volodymyr Zelensky accepted the invitation, saying he was ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey on May 15.
Putin has not said whether or not he will attend.
European countries have promised to enact sanctions against Russia’s banking and energy sectors if ceasefire demands are not met. The proposed deadline for implementing the truce has now passed.
“We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia’s ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy,” the foreign ministers of several European countries, including Germany, France, and the U.K., wrote following the London summit.
“We will keep Russian sovereign assets in our jurisdictions immobilized until Russia ceases its aggression and pays for the damage caused."
The EU also plans to unveil a new round of sanctions against Russia on May 14, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been more evasive about sanctions against Moscow. While he originally backed the Ukraine-Europe ceasefire demand, he soon changed tack, urging Ukraine to accept Putin’s invitation to peace talks and attempt to negotiate a ceasefire there.
Trump said on May 12 that he might even consider joining Zelensky and Putin in Istanbul himself.
“I even thought about flying over — I’m not sure where I’ll be on Thursday, I have so many meetings,” he said.
The Kyiv IndependentChris York,