Flames rise from the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery after Ukrainian drone strikes, Yaroslavl, Russia, May 8, 2026 (Euromaidan Press)

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UPDATE 2112 GMT:

Ukraine has struck Russia’s Perm oil refinery for the third time in two weeks.

The Ukrainian State security service SBU confirmed the attacks on both the refinery and the linear production dispatch station, more than 1,500 km (930 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

A fire was set in one of crude oil processing units, and an oil reservoir of the pumping station was hit.

UPDATE 2059 GMT:

Donald Trump has announced a ceasefire in Russia and Ukraine from May 9 to 11. He said it will include a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country.

Trump said he made the “request” to Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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. A ceasefire regime must also be established on May 9, 10, and 11.”

The President issued an official declaration that Ukraine will not attack Russia’s Victory Day ceremonies on Saturday, “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.”

UPDATE 1310 GMT:

The Kremlin has revoked accreditation for foreign media outlets ahead of Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow on Saturday.

Foreign journalists who had received official approval were informed by phone that their permits have been cancelled. Affected outlets include Germany’s ARD and ZDF, the UK’s Sky News, France’s AFP, Italy’s Rai, and Japan’s NHK.

A Kremlin official told Germany’s Spiegel of a change in the “format” of parade coverage “due to the current situation”.

UPDATE 1302 GMT:

Thirteen airports in southwest Russia have been shut after a drone crashed into an administrative building in Rostov-on-Don.

The UAV hit a branch of the Southern Russian Air Navigation Company. Russia’s Transport Ministry promised to make a decision on the timing of flight resumption “in the near future”.

An earlier advisory to flight crews notified them of the suspension of flights until next Tuesday.

Around 80 flights have been delayed or cancelled so far, leaving at least 14,000 passengers stranded at airports.

The Moscow region has also been affected today.

UPDATE 1249 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited commanders and troops on the frontline in the Dnipropetrovsk region in southern Ukraine.

Zelensky received briefings, including from Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, and handed out awards to soldiers.

I want to thank you on this day and wish you victory in our war. Thank you for defending Ukraine and our sovereignty. I am confident that having defeated one Nazism, we will defeat another. I wish health to your families and loved ones. Stay strong and take care of yourselves. Today, the defense of our state rests on your shoulders.

UPDATE 1236 GMT:

Six civilians have been murdered and 58 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 56 of 67 drones. Eleven strikes were recorded at eight locations.

In the Donetsk region in the east, four people were killed and three injured.

In the Sumy regio in the northeast, a 52-year-old woman was killed and three people injured by almost 50 attacks on 31 settlements.

In the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, one civilian was murdered and 12 wounded amid 917 strikes on 48 settlements.

Casualties were also recorded in the Kherson, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

UPDATE 1226 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says he expects to host Donald Trump’s envoys in late spring or early summer.

Zelensky expressed the hope after a briefing by Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, on his meeting with US officials in Miami.

Discussions focused on humanitarian issues, prisoner exchanges between Kyiv and Moscow, and details of US-backed security guarantees for Ukraine, posted Zelensky.

Trump’s envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, have yet to visit Kyiv. In contrast, they have met several times with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: On the eve of Russia’s Victory Day, Ukraine has struck Russian military and industrial sites.

The Slavneft-YANOS refinery, one of the five largest in Russia, and a defense technology center were among the targets.

Vladimir Putin had declared a unilateral ceasefire for Russian ceremonies on Saturday, marking the anniversary of the defeat of Germany in World War II. Moscow has showed its concern over possible Ukrainian strikes, limiting the Red Square parade with no presence of military hardware.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky responded with the declaration of a ceasefire from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. Russia rejected the initiative with thousands of violations, including hundreds of drones.

On Friday, videos and photos posted by residents showed the fire at the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl, 250 km (160 miles) northeast of Moscow.

The refinery has a production capacity of more than 15 million tons per year.

Later in the morning, numerous explosions were heard in the industrial area of Rostov-on-Don in southwest Russia. Fires were reported at a branch of the Radar Scientific and Technical Center.

The Center, a research and defense technology company linked to Russia’s Defense Ministry, focuses on the development of advanced radar systems.

Zelensky posted on social media: