Russian National Guard officers walk across Red Square, decorated for Victory Day ceremonies, Moscow, May 6, 2026 (Natalia Kolesnikova/Anadolu/Getty)

EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Kyiv Exposes Russia’s Vulnerabilities

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Ukraine Ruins Putin’s Non-Victory Day

Ukraine and Russia have agreed a ceasefire from Saturday to Monday, as Moscow holds scaled-back Victory Day ceremonies today.

Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on social media on Friday evening. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Trump’s request and posted, “We received Russia’s agreement to conduct a prisoner exchange in the format of 1,000 for 1,000.”

Zelensky issued an official declaration that Ukraine would not attack the Victory Day ceremonies in Moscow, marking Russia’s triumph over Germany in World War II, “Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, who can be returned home.”

Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in a statement, “At the instruction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, I confirm that US President Donald Trump’s initiative regarding the ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine is acceptable to the Russian side.”

Fearing Ukrainian attacks, the Kremlin removed military hardware such as tanks, missiles, and artillery from the Red Square parade, and it tightened intensive restrictions on the Internet. Russian officials have been shaken by Kyiv’s escalating strikes on infrastructure supporting Putin’s 50 1/2-month full-scale invasion, including refineries, terminals, ports, and high-technology complexes.

Zelensky announced a ceasefire from the start of Wednesday, but Russia violated it with thousands of attacks, including hundreds of drones, killing and wounding Ukrainian civilians.

Addressing the Red Square ceremony, Putin repeated his line that Russian soldiers in Ukraine are fighting an “aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc”. He insisted, “Our cause is just.”

In contrast to other years, only a small delegation of foreign leaders — from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Laos, and Malaysia — attended the ceremony. A column of soldiers from North Korea, which has sent around 12,000 troops to prop up Putin’s invasion, marched in the parade.

Zelensky focused on Saturday’s commemoration of Europe Day.

From the first days of the full-scale war until today, Europe has stood with Ukraine. And this is not charity – it is a choice made by Europeans: to stand on the same side as the brave and the strong – the Ukrainians who are fighting today for peace and true protection against tyranny, not only for themselves, but for the entire continent. And we will inevitably defend our state, our people, and our right to freely choose our future – a future in Europe.