Four years since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia and Ukraine are still pummelling each other with missiles, drones and artillery.
With no victory yet in sight for either side in a gruelling war of attrition, Putin announced a May 8-9 ceasefire to cover the celebrations of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany - Russia's most revered national holiday.
Kyiv responded that a ceasefire just for the holiday was inappropriate and called instead for an indefinite truce to begin two days earlier, which Moscow ignored.
The Russian defence ministry said 264 Ukrainian drones had been downed early on Friday, while Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the capital had been targeted and officials said the Urals region of Perm had been attacked with drones.
"Despite the declaration of a ceasefire, Ukrainian armed forces continued to launch attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles and artillery against our troops' positions, as well as against civilian facilities in the border regions of the Belgorod and Kursk regions," Russia's defence ministry said.
Russia has warned that any attempt by Ukraine to disrupt the Victory Day military parade on Red Square on Saturday would lead to a massive missile strike on Kyiv.
Moscow has told foreign diplomats that if Ukraine attacks the event, they should leave the Ukrainian capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces continued to strike Ukrainian positions during the night on Friday, which he said showed Russia had not made "even a token attempt to cease fire on the front".
"As we did over the past 24 hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well. We will defend our positions and people's lives," Zelenskiy said.
The Victory Day parade in Moscow - usually a show of Russian military might with intercontinental ballistic missiles and tanks - will have no military equipment on display due to the threat of attack from Ukraine.
Russia was stepping up security around Putin in case of a Ukrainian attack on Saturday's celebrations, the Kremlin said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed CNN and other Western media reports that Putin's protection had been intensified because of fears of a coup or assassination.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin would deliver a speech at the event and meet later foreign dignitaries, including from Laos, Malaysia and Slovakia.
The Kremlin has tried to use the victory parades in recent years to rally Russians around the war in Ukraine, but Moscow's troops have now been fighting in Ukraine for well over four years - longer than the Soviet involvement, from 1941-45, in what Russians refer to as the Great Patriotic War.
Russia, which controls about 20 per cent of Ukraine, has seen its advances slow in 2026, taking just 700 square kilometres in the first four months of the year, according to pro-Ukrainian maps.
No end is in sight, with peace talks stalled as Ukraine rejects Putin's demand that it surrender territory it has successfully defended since 2022.
Russian businesses and ordinary people have vented increasing frustration in recent weeks at frequent internet outages that Putin has defended as necessary security measures.
