Russia broke Ukraine's unilateral ceasefire, starting just past midnight on 6 May, hitting Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kryvyi Rih, and later killing a woman at a Sumy kindergarten, according to a Telegram statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia had spent the previous days demanding that Ukraine observe a unilateral ceasefire on 8-9 May to cover its Moscow parade. Ukraine's truce took effect at 00:00 on 6 May. By 10:00 a.m., Russia had committed 1,820 violations, Zelenskyy said.
A kindergarten in Sumy and the first death of the failed ceasefire
Two Russian Shahed drones struck a kindergarten in central Sumy on the morning of 6 May, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported. A woman was killed. Others were injured. Rescuers had to pause work periodically because of the threat of repeated Russian strikes on the same site.
Acting Sumy Mayor Artem Kobzar confirmed the strike on the kindergarten. Deputy Mayor Stanislav Poliakov told Suspilne that "there were people under the rubble. Emergency workers were getting them out." The kindergarten took the heaviest damage. Neighboring buildings suffered minor damage.
In Kharkiv, a Russian Shahed strike set a detached house in the Novobavarskyi district ablaze, causing a 120-square-meter fire, the State Emergency Service of Kharkiv Oblast reported. Twelve detached homes were damaged. Two women — aged 48 and 53 — sought medical help for acute stress reactions, the Kharkiv Oblast police said. A second strike hit Kharkiv's Shevchenkivskyi district. Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that the impacted home suffered "very serious damage — the roof and load-bearing walls completely destroyed."
- A rescuer extinguishes a fire at a private home hit by a Russian Shahed drone in Kharkiv's Novobavarskyi district, 6 May 2026. Photo: State Emergency Service of Kharkiv Oblast
In Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces hit an industrial plant on the morning of 6 May, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, Ivan Fedorov, said. No casualties were reported there.
In Kryvyi Rih, the head of the city's Defense Council Oleksandr Vilkul reported Shahed strikes on the city and Kryvyi Rih district. The infrastructure was damaged. Drone and artillery strikes also hit Nikopol and the Marhanetska, Pokrovska, Chervonohryhorivska, and Tomakivska communities in Nikopol Raion, where administrative buildings, a hotel, residential homes, and cars were destroyed.
1,820 violations in 10 hours
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that overnight on 6 May, starting from 6:00 p.m. on 5 May, Russia attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles from Russia's Rostov Oblast, one Kh-31 air-launched guided missile from the airspace of Russia's Kursk Oblast, and 108 Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas, and Parodiya decoy drones launched from Bryansk, Kursk, and Millerovo in Russia, occupied Donetsk, and Hvardiyske in occupied Crimea.
Air defense downed or jammed 89 drones. Nine drones, two ballistic missiles, and one air-launched missile hit eight locations. Debris fell at one more.
Zelenskyy said the totals went further than the air figures alone. Russia carried out nearly 30 assaults along the front, more than 20 air strikes using over 70 glide bombs overnight and into the morning, and the 108 drones, on top of the missiles.
"As of 10:00 a.m., the Russian army has committed 1,820 violations of the silence regime — shellings, attempted assaults, air strikes, drone use," he said.
Zelenskyy: Russia rejected the ceasefire
Zelenskyy said Ukraine's offer mirrored what Moscow had demanded for its 9 May parade. Russia struck Ukraine instead of observing the truce.
"Russia's choice is an obvious refusal of the ceasefire and of preserving lives," the President said. "For all normal people, it is obvious that all-out war and the daily killing of people are a bad time for public 'celebrations.'"
He added that Russia knows where to find Ukraine's diplomatic offers.
"Even with the internet turned off and the communications of most Russians blocked, it is absolutely clear that their leadership can come out of the bunker and choose peace. Our diplomatic proposals are with the Russian side. The only thing that is needed is Russia's readiness to move toward real peace."
Russia's strikes on the day before — when Russian KAB glide bombs hit Zaporizhzhia and a Russian evening strike hit a VARUS distribution center in Dnipro — kept claiming lives overnight. The toll in Zaporizhzhia rose to 12 dead and 46 injured. The toll in Dnipro rose to 4 dead and 19 injured.
