Russia announces Victory Day ceasefire, threatens missile strike on Kyiv if Ukraine disrupts celebrations Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on the evening of May 4 that Vladimir Putin had ordered a “ceasefire in honor of the Victory Day celebrations” on May 8 and 9. “We expect the Ukrainian side to follow this example,” the ministry said, warning that if Ukraine attempted to disrupt the celebrations, Russian armed forces would “deliver a retaliatory, massive missile strike on the center of Kyiv.”