Moscow threatens retaliation over possible May 9 attack

A senior Russian lawmaker has warned that Moscow could launch a massive strike on Kyiv if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Victory Day celebrations on May 9.

Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Defence Committee, made the remarks in an interview with Russian media, stating that such a scenario would trigger a large-scale military response.

According to Sobolev, a recent drone strike on an administrative building belonging to the “Air Navigation of Southern Russia” branch in Rostov-on-Don — which disrupted operations at 13 airports across southern Russia — demonstrated what he described as Kyiv’s “fundamental non-compliance with the ceasefire.”

“Ukraine fundamentally does not comply with ceasefire agreements, aircraft-type drones are actively flying, they are trying to create chaos so that people suffer and so on. What is this, if there is chaos in airports? What can be expected from them? It is impossible to negotiate with them; there is a rule that one cannot negotiate with terrorists,” Sobolev said.

He added that Moscow had already outlined its response in the event of a major attack on the Russian capital.

“Moscow promised a strike on Kyiv in response to a massive strike on Moscow on May 9, if Kyiv decides on such an attack in order to disrupt our great holiday. Then we will carry out a massive strike on the centre of Kyiv. It should be understood that the President of Russia has set a clear task; we are talking about a tough response to an attack on Moscow during the holidays. And ceasefire violations do not fall under this response,” he said.

Russia has stated that from midnight on May 8, its forces halted combat operations and remained at previously held positions under a ceasefire set to last until May 10. However, the Russian Ministry of Defence said Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire 1,365 times within the zone of the conflict.

By Tamilla Hasanova