Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky ‘permits’ Putin to hold Victory Day parade after Trump announces ceasefire
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a decree "permitting" Russia to hold a Victory Day military parade and said his forces won't target Moscow's Red Square, after Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire.
Vladimir Putin will deliver a speech this morning at a scaled-back parade to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Once used to show off Russia's vast military, including its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, this year's parade will have no tanks or other military equipment rolling over the cobbles of Red Square.
Zelensky said: “I hereby decree: to permit the holding of a parade in the city of Moscow (Russian Federation) on 9 May 2026.”Trump on Friday announced a ceasefire covering Saturday, Sunday and Monday, along with a prisoner swap that will see both countries hand over 1,000 prisoners each.
Trump said the ceasefire will “include a suspension of all kinetic activity”.Both Russia and Ukraine confirmed they would observe the ceasefire, with Zelensky saying the truce would begin at 10am Kyiv time. Vladimir Putin has arrived at Red Square
Vladimir Putin has arrived at Red Square in Moscow for the Victory Day military parade.
He was accompanied by Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko.
Vladimir Putin in Moscow (The Independent)
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 07:58North Korean servicemen stand in formation before the Victory Day military parade in Moscow
(AFP/Getty)
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 07:54LIVE: Putin holds Victory Day parade
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 07:49North Korea's Kim calls ties with Russia 'top priority' in Victory Day message
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his country's commitment to its mutual defence treaty with Russia in a message to president Vladimir Putin, congratulating Russia on the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Kim reiterated North Korea's position to "give top priority" to its partnership with Russia and its commitment to "the implementation of the obligations of the inter-state treaty," according to KCNA.
Russia and North Korea in 2024 signed a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty" during a visit to Pyongyang by Putin. The pact includes a mutual defence provision.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk during the ongoing war in Ukraine. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials said those troops suffered heavy casualties, with more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers killed in the fighting.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 07:44Russia flies replica of historic Victory Banner over occupied Ukraine
Russia's defence ministry has broadcast footage of its troops flying a drone with a replica of the historic "Victory Banner" above areas captured from Ukraine in the eastern Donbas region.
The Victory Banner was erected by Red Army soldiers atop the Reichstag building in Berlin in 1945.
The red flags were also raised in Krasnoarmeysk, Grishino and Seversk in occupied Donetsk to “symbolise the unbreakable bond between generations and fidelity to the heroic traditions of our Fatherland,” the ministry said.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 07:15Victory Day military parade about to begin in Russia
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 07:05Russia readies to hold muted Victory Day parade
Foreign dignitaries have begun arriving at Red Square in Moscow for the start of today's Victory Day parade, where Russian leader Vladimir Putin will address the public and military.
Additional security personnel were seen scouting the area this morning, while military officials took their positions for a march.
The parade will begin at 10am local time, coinciding with the beginning of the three-day ceasefire announced by Donald Trump yesterday.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 06:57Which foreign leaders are attending Russia's Victory Day?
Security was tight in Moscow as president Vladimir Putin was set to speak this morning at a Red Square parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Putin, in power for more than a quarter-century, has used Victory Day, Russia's most important secular holiday, to showcase the country's military might and rally support for his military action in Ukraine, now in its fifth year.
But this year, for the first time in nearly two decades, the parade will take place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.
Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Laos president Thongloun Sisoulith, Kazakhstan's president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan's president Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Belarus' authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko are set to attend the festivities in the Russian capital.
Prime minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, a European Union member, will meet Putin and lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial just outside the Kremlin walls.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 06:50Russian security personnel patrol ahead of Victory Day parade
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 06:40France arrests Ukrainian linked to Russian torture prison
French police have arrested a Ukrainian man charged with committing war crimes at the Russian-run Izolyatsia prison in Donetsk.
The man is suspected of having voluntarily collaborated with Russian officials from 2017 to 2019, while assisting the head of the prison in torturing detainees, Ukraine's prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko said. He has been living in France since 2021.
The torture prison was set up by Russian forces at the premises of a former factory and art centre, Izolyatsia, in Donetsk after capturing the city in 2014.
It swiftly became known as a site of illegal imprisonment and torture of many Ukrainian prisoners of war, along with activists and journalists, according to Kyiv Independent.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 May 2026 06:30