Ukraine and Russia fight on despite US-mediated ceasefire

KYIV - Russia and Ukraine on May 11 reported fighting along their long front line despite a US-mediated ceasefire, and each accused the other of launching drone and artillery strikes.

Ukraine and Russia agreed on May 8 to a ceasefire from May 9 to May 11 as part of a US-led push for peace under President Donald Trump after more than four years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Mr Trump said on May 8 he hoped the ceasefire would be extended, but it was already showing signs of strain on May 10, when each side accused the other of violating it.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 10 Moscow had refrained from large-scale aerial and missile attacks but had continued assaults along parts of the 1,200km front line where Russian forces are advancing.

He said Ukrainian troops were responding and defending their positions.

Russian state news agencies reported on May 11 that Russia’s Defence Ministry had said it had recorded 23,802 ceasefire violations by Ukraine since the start of the ceasefire.

Russian troops had responded in kind to Ukrainian attacks on rocket launchers, artillery and drone launch sites, the ministry was quoted as saying.

One person was killed and three wounded in a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s southern Belgorod region, Russian state news agency TASS cited the regional governor as saying on May 11.

Frontline clashes

The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said 180 battlefield clashes had been recorded along the front line over the previous 24 hours. Russian forces had on May 10 deployed “kamikaze” drones and artillery in attacks on settlements and military positions, it said in a May 11 morning update.

In its May 11 afternoon report, the General Staff said Russian troops had carried out 38 new assaults on Ukrainian positions, adding: “Artillery shelling of border areas continues”.

Regional governors in Ukraine reported early on May 11 that at least three people had been killed in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia and southern Kherson regions over the past 24 hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 9 he thought the war was coming to an end and that he would be willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe, with Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as his preferred partner.

But European Union foreign ministers, arriving for a meeting in Brussels on May 11, rejected Mr Putin’s suggestion, voicing scepticism that Russia was ready to end the war and negotiate sincerely on peace and security for Europe. REUTERS