KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Russian drone and missile strikes carried out overnight and later on Tuesday killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 80 others, Ukrainian authorities said, hours before Kyiv was due to enact a ceasefire and three days before Moscow promised its own pause in hostilities.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday afternoon, powerful Russian glide bombs<\/a> smashed into the eastern city of Kramatorsk, the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and the northern city of Chernihiv, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding 45 others, officials said.<\/p>\n Attacks the previous night killed five people and wounded 39, according to authorities.<\/p>\n President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked Moscow for what he said was its \u201cutter cynicism\u201d in launching the attacks after Russia announced a unilateral ceasefire<\/a> over two days later this week while it marks the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n AP AUDIO: Zelenskyy slams Russia\u2019s \u2018utter cynicism\u2019 as strikes kill 22 in Ukraine before announced ceasefire\n <\/p>\n AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on Ukraine\u2019s president\u2019s reactions to a Russian strike on Ukraine ahead of an agreed temporary ceasefire.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war and our responses,\u201d Zelenskyy said in a post on X. \u201cPeace is needed, and real steps are needed to achieve it. Ukraine will act in kind.\u201d<\/p>\n The Russian Defense Ministry declared a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for Friday and Saturday, but said that it would strike back at the country, if it tries to disrupt the festivities on Victory Day, which Russia marks annually on May 9.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy replied that Ukraine would observe a ceasefire beginning at the end of Tuesday and would respond in kind to Russia\u2019s actions from that moment on. He didn\u2019t put an end date on the move.<\/p>\n U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres welcomed the unilateral ceasefires and \u201clooks forward to their successful implementation,\u201d U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The U.N. chief reiterated his call for \u201ca full, immediate, unconditional and lasting ceasefire, leading to a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace, in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and relevant U.N. resolutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Moscow\u2019s proposal to stop fighting follows a familiar pattern of Russia declaring short unilateral ceasefires<\/a> during the war timed to various holidays, most recently Orthodox Easter. Those suspensions of combat don\u2019t produce any tangible results amid deep mistrust between Moscow and Kyiv more than four years after Russia launched an all-out invasion<\/a> of its neighbor. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the war have come to nothing.<\/p>\n Ukrainian leader expands Gulf cooperation<\/p>\n Zelenskyy was in Bahrain on Tuesday where he met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, proposing a bilateral drone defense partnership amid the Iran war<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Ukrainian leader said that he offered to share Ukraine\u2019s air defense expertise with Bahrain, drawing a parallel between Iranian attacks on Gulf states and Russia\u2019s daily aerial strikes on Ukrainian territory, which often use Shahed drones initially developed by Iran.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy said last month that Ukrainian officials are helping<\/a> Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan with drone expertise and air defense.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s power grid targeted again<\/p>\n Russian forces fired 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 164 strike drones at Ukraine overnight from Monday to Tuesday, including a jet-powered Shahed drone variant, the Ukrainian Air Force said.<\/p>\n Air defense units stopped 149 drones and one missile, but others got through, it said. Two ballistic missiles failed to reach their targets, the air force said without elaborating.<\/p>\n