Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

In less than ten hours - at midnight in Moscow (22:00 BST) - Vladimir Putin's proposed ceasefire is due to kick in to action.

The unilaterally proposed truce is supposed to run until 11 May and follows a similarly short Easter "truce", which Ukraine and Russia both accused each other of breaching.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has labelled the halt in fighting a "theatrical play", and this morning called for increased pressure on Russia after its air attacks in Kyiv - and across the country - killed a mother and her son.

Putin's temporary ceasefire coincides with Victory Day celebrations, which mark the end of World War Two.

High-profile guests - including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro - are set to attend the military parade in Moscow's Red Square.

Yesterday, the Kremlin reiterated that it intends to go ahead with the pause in fighting, but the arrival of some guests was nearly disrupted when Ukraine air attacks forced airports across Russia to close for a short while overnight.

We're now pausing our live coverage, but we'll be keeping an eye on developments across the region as the start of the potential ceasefire edges closer.

• 'Why would we play Putin's game?': Ukrainians see Russian lull as sideshow

We can now bring you some footage of the aftermath of the Russian strikes on Kyiv, which killed a mother and a son who were inside a residential building.

Smoke could still be seen emanating from some of the buildings that were hit overnight, even hours later.

Mobile internet access is going to be restricted in Moscow to ensure safety on Victory Day, the Kremlin says.

The country has in previous years restricted mobile internet access during the annual military parade.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia is taking "all necessary measures" to ensure the celebration on Friday takes place in "a calm, stable and peaceful atmosphere" - just hours after Ukraine launched more than a dozen drones at the capital.

The internet restrictions are "necessary" due to Russia's "dangerous neighbourhood", he adds.

But it's unclear whether Peskov is referring to a specific neighbourhood in Russia or whether he's making a reference to Ukraine, which it borders.

As we've been reporting, Vladimir Putin is hosting dozens of high-profile guests in Moscow for the Victory Day parade on Friday.

The BBC's Ukrainecast will be taking your questions about all the latest developments in Ukraine in its episode tomorrow at 13:00 BST.

You can ask chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, Russia editor Steve Rosenberg and Russia editor at BBC Monitoring Vitaly Shevchenko your questions by reaching out in the following ways:

• Email: ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk
• Send a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram: +44 330 1239480

In the meantime, you can catch up with the latest episode over on BBC Sounds:

• Listen: Victory Day - Has Putin hijacked Russian remembrance?

At least 350 flights were delayed or cancelled due to Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia overnight, the AFP news agency reports, citing a Russian tourism body.

Airports in parts of western Russia were temporarily closed, making it the second night in a row that travel was disrupted by attacks launched by Kyiv.

Most had reopened by early Wednesday morning, but the Association of Tour Operators in Russia says at least 60,000 passengers were affected by the disruption.

World leaders - including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva - are still set to arrive in Moscow for Friday's Victory Day parade.

Image source, Getty Images

Fears rise over Ukraine’s air defencespublished at 11:03 British Summer Time 7 May

11:03 BST 7 May

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent, reporting from Kyiv

Last night’s multiple and deadly drone and ballistic missile attacks by Russia on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and on Zaporizhzhia have served as an uncomfortable reminder of Ukraine’s urgent need to replenish its air defences.

The drones, also known as Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), tend to fly more slowly than missiles so can be engaged with traditional ground-based automatic gunfire. This can range from a weapon as crude as the 1910-era Maxim machine-gun to the German-supplied Gepard mounted twin cannon.

In the future, it’s likely that a cheap and effective laser system will be mass deployed to destroy drones both on the battlefield and in defence of cities.

The big worry for Ukraine though is for how much longer it can keep intercepting Russia’s more powerful, high-velocity weapons like the Kinzhal (‘Dagger’) missile or the multi-warhead, hypersonic ‘Oreshnik’ that was fired at Dnipro last November.

Here Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to its allies to supply more Patriot missile batteries. These are expensive, sometimes hard to hide, and Russia knows that its adversary only has a finite number of them.

As we've been reporting, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia launched ballistic missiles and 142 drones across Ukraine in an overnight attack.

The president confirmed a mother and a son were killed in Kyiv and seven others were injured.

Ukrainian police say the overnight strikes injured four people in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.

The map below highlights where the injuries and deaths were reported.

We're beginning to hear more details out of Kyiv about the woman and her son who were killed in last night's Russian attack.

In a translated social media post, the Kyiv Animal Rescue Group says that the victims of the strike were volunteers caring for cats.

"The bodies of two people and five cats were found at the scene," the rescue group writes.

Another cat was found alive but "badly burned", and has been taken to a medical facility for treatment, it adds.

Ukraine's attempted attacks on Moscow arrive at an important moment for Vladimir Putin, who as we've been reporting is hosting dozens of high-profile guests in the capital city for a Victory Day parade on Friday.

Tanks have been spotted rolling down Moscow's main street, Tverskaya, at rehearsals for the big 9 May parade on Red Square in recent days.

And today we're seeing pictures of the hundreds of military personnel who will be participating in Friday's march.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Russia and Ukraine traded a volley of attacks overnight.

A drone strike on a residential building in Kyiv has killed two people, while there have yet to be any casualties reported from the attacks Ukraine launched at Moscow.

Russia's full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022, has killed thousands and left towns across southern and eastern Ukraine levelled and facing intense aerial attacks.

Moscow controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

The majority of its control is in eastern Ukraine - here are the latest maps showing the areas of Russian military control in Ukraine:

Here is a closer look at those areas in eastern Ukraine:

The governor of the Belgorod Oblast in Russia says several areas in the border region came under attack by Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours.

Vyacheslav Gladkov adds:

• There were 31 drones fired at Shebekinsky - 26 of which were shot down
• Elsewhere, 29 drones were launched at the Krasnoyarsk region - it's unclear if there are any casualties
• At least 10 drones were launched at several other districts in the Belgorod region - two were shot down

In Moscow, its mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, says:

• Russia intercepted 14 Ukrainian drones fired at the capital overnight

• The barrage by Ukraine continued into the early hours on Wednesday morning

Life continues in the Ukrainian capital after a deadly night of Russian missile and drone attacks, which killed a mother and son inside an apartment building.

Here's a look at how the city's residents are picking their way through the rubble in Kyiv this morning:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent, reporting from Kyiv

People here in the capital have been reacting to last night’s waves of deadly drone and ballistic missile attacks that came less than 24 hours before a proposed Russian ceasefire is due to begin on Wednesday night.

Oleksandra, 47, tells the BBC: "When the Muscovites [Russians] speak of a ceasefire, a pause, or some sort of truce, all I hear is: lies, lies, we will kill you. It’s astonishing that anyone still wants to believe them."

It has emerged that one of the two people killed was a volunteer who rescued cats. She was reportedly killed in her apartment along with her 30-year-old son and her cats.

Another resident of Kyiv, Maksym, 46, tells me this: "When the first explosions happened my son got up and went to the hallway. I brought him back into my room. He went back to sleep, but I kept waking up several times.

"Ukraine has long been proposing a 30-day ceasefire," says Maksym, referring to a US proposal agreed on 11 March but refused by Russia.

"Instead, we are being offered three days — just so the invaders’ army can march through Red Square in front of dictators and their sympathisers."

"Along the way, they’ll once again distort history, claiming that Russia won the Second World War single-handedly. Then, as usual, they will violate their own ceasefire," she says, before adding: "Clearly, it’s a questionable proposal."

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

As our security correspondent Frank Garner reports, it has been a noisy night in Kyiv.

Russia and Ukraine traded a barrage of drone strikes overnight - here's what else you need to know:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for tougher action against Russia after claiming Putin launched four ballistic missiles and 142 drones at Ukraine overnight
• A woman and her son were killed in Russian strikes on Kyiv and a further seven injured, Zelensky says
• Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow forced airports across the country to close - for the second night in a row
• The attacks took place less than a day before Russia's proposed ceasefire was set to come into force at midnight Moscow time (22:00 BST)
• Foreign leaders - including China's president - are starting to arrive in Moscow to attend Friday's Victory Day parade

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent, reporting from Kyiv

I filmed this at dawn in Kyiv this morning - Ukrainian air defence shooting at incoming Russian drones.

Joel Gunter
Reporting from Kyiv

Image source, Reuters

The strikes on Kyiv overnight killed two people and injured at least six, including four children, the State Emergency Service says.

There were air raid sirens throughout the night here in the capital and several very loud explosions around 01:00 local time (03:00 BST).

Those were the sounds of a ballistic missile being destroyed by air defence systems, authorities say.

Emergency services say that a drone hit a block of flats and drone fragments hit two other residential buildings, and that debris from the ballistic missile caused a fire that was extinguished at around 03:00 local time.

Images from the scene where a drone hit this morning show significant damage to a block of flats and emergency services removing body bags from the building.

The strikes rocked Kyiv just hours ahead of what Russia has said is a planned three-day ceasefire to coincide with celebrations marking the end of World War Two.

Ukraine has rejected the proposal, calling on Russia to agree to a much more substantial 30-day ceasefire and negotiations.

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine's president says Russia launched four ballistic missiles and 142 drones at his country overnight.

He says that there are still "dozens" of drones flying over Ukraine's skies, and goes on to confirm that seven people were injured - four of them children.

"Tragically, a woman and her son were killed," Zelensky says, referring to strikes in Kyiv.

Emergency services have been deployed across the country - including Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Kherson, and Dnipro regions.

"Only significantly intensified pressure on Russia and stronger sanctions can pave the way to diplomacy," he says, adding that Moscow "must be held accountable for its actions".

We've just had the first reaction from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Russia's overnight attacks.

The Ukrainian leader calls for countries to exert more pressure on Russia after the deadly attacks on the capital.

We'll bring you more of his comments in our next post.

Image source, EPA

Venezuela's president touched down in Moscow early on Wednesday morning, not long after Ukrainian drone attacks forced airports to close.

Nicholas Maduro is one of the high-profile guests attending the Victory Day parade - being held on Friday - which marks 80 years since the surrender of Nazi Germany.

Its the third night in a row that Ukraine has targeted the Russian capital and the second night that those attacks have forced airport closures.

Moscow regularly halts air traffic in areas where its air defence systems are operating.

Ukraine's foreign minister has called for more pressure on Moscow following the overnight attacks on Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia.

"Once again, Russian strikes on Kyiv. A loud night in Ukraine's capital," Andrii Sybiha says in a post on X.

"Putin responds with such brutal strikes to Ukraine's unconditional proposal for a 30-day or longer ceasefire. He makes a deliberate mockery of US peace efforts."

The foreign minister says commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 alongside Vladimir Putin is "unacceptable".

As we've been reporting, a parade in Moscow on Friday will mark the victory of the Soviet Union and allies over Nazi Germany.

Image source, Reuters