At least two people were reportedly killed after a night of heavy fights between Ukraine and Russia – with drone strikes on kyiv and Moscow.
The fighting occurs a day before a parade planned in the Russian capital to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War-President Vladimir Putin offering a three-day ceasefire to coincide with the event.
Ukraine did not accept the proposal and put pressure for a truce lasting at least 30 days.
Two people were killed in the Ukrainian capital by the last Russian strikes, said the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, on the Telegram messaging application.
It is the third racing night that Moscow was targeted by drones, which still made the four airports of the city close for several hours.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on social networks that Russian air defense units had destroyed at least 14 Ukrainian drones after 10:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. BST) on Tuesday. No damage has been reported.
In Kyiv, the drop in debris of drones sparked fires in apartments and other buildings in three districts.
Mayor Klitschko said the two deceased people were in a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, which had been affected by fragments of a drone strike.
On social networks, he also said that four children were part of seven injured people.
Last month, the Kremlin announced a temporary cease-fire from May 8 to 10 to coincide with the events planned in Moscow marking victory in Europe.
The city should hold a parade on May 9 to mark the success of the Soviet Union and the allies on Nazi Germany during the Second World War. This year is the 80th anniversary and will see the world leaders, notably Xi Jinping in China, Russia for the event.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, described the cease-fire proposed “useless”. Instead, he offered an unconditional ceasefire over at least 30 days in accordance with an American proposal launched in March.
A previous ceasefire on Easter has broken several times, Russia and Ukraine accumulating each other with multiple violations.
