Zelensky Declares Ceasefire as Russia Replaces Air Commander

Two parallel decisions framed the day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a unilateral ceasefire on the night of May 5 to 6, urging Russian forces to reciprocate. The move responded directly to Russia's rhetoric around a May 9 "Victory Day" ceasefire -- a thread that has run since late April, when Zelensky asked the Trump administration to clarify Vladimir Putin's truce proposal. The Institute for the Study of War, in its May 5 update, said a leaked European intelligence document highlighted Putin's "increasing concern over his personal safety and the safety of his senior officials," while noting it had not observed independent evidence to support the document's broader coup-related claims. The Russian Ministry of Defense appointed Colonel General Alexander Chayko commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) after recent domestic criticism of Russian air-defence and air-campaign failures.

The IAEA delivered the day's other escalation. Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed that an IAEA team had observed damage to meteorological monitoring equipment at the External Radiation Control Laboratory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant during a visit on May 5, a day after a drone attack at the site. The equipment is no longer operational. The agency said the broader external radiation control network at the plant remained intact but stressed the safety implications of repeated incidents around occupied nuclear infrastructure.

Kyiv kept its diplomatic momentum running. Zelensky held his first high-level talks with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze since 2021 on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, signalling a cautious reset in bilateral relations after a prolonged freeze. The meeting followed a surprise Zelensky visit to Baku on which he signed defence deals with Azerbaijan -- the latest sign that Kyiv is rebuilding South Caucasus partnerships even as the war grinds on.

Ukrainian deep strikes continued. Drones attacked a major oil refinery and a chemical plant in the Russian city of Perm, some 1,500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. The strikes disabled a key distillation unit at the refinery, one of Russia's largest, bringing the war to a city deep in Russia's Urals industrial belt. The economic backdrop sharpened the picture: Russia's oil exports fell 1.8 million tonnes in April -- a 16.8 percent drop versus March -- as Ukrainian strikes on key Baltic and Black Sea ports compounded sanctions pressure on the export chain.

Battlefield arithmetic tipped further against Russia in the latest readout. Ukraine's Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia lost 35,203 troops killed or seriously wounded in April -- the fifth consecutive month its battlefield losses have exceeded its capacity to mobilise replacements. The General Staff reported 149 combat clashes on May 5, up from 148 the previous day, with the heaviest fighting in the Huliaipole direction (29 attacks) and the Pokrovsk direction (24 attacks); Russian forces conducted 75 airstrikes during the same period.

Russian air and artillery strikes on Ukraine ran in parallel. New drone strikes on energy infrastructure caused partial power outages in four regions including Dnipropetrovsk on May 5, building on a pattern that has run since May 2. Russian forces conducted 843 strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region in a single day -- including two missile strikes, 29 airstrikes, 574 drone attacks, six MLRS strikes and 232 artillery strikes -- killing three people and injuring 11. April's toll on the Sumy region came to nearly 2,300 strikes, killing 16 civilians and injuring 220 including 67 children, with the bulk delivered through 741 FPV drone attacks, 535 UAV strikes and over 500 guided aerial bombs.

Beyond the front, Swedish authorities seized a Russian shadow-fleet oil tanker on May 3 -- one of the small but accumulating sanctions-pressure points that the export-decline numbers are starting to reflect.