Ukraine’s military said Russia "increased the intensity" of its fighting Wednesday "despite loud statements of ceasefire readiness for the May holidays."

Russian forces have significantly increased the intensity of their combat activity in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two.

Kharkiv, which lies in the northeast near the Russian border and is Ukraine's second-largest city, has been the target of regular Russian drone and missile attacks since Moscow began its full-scale invasion.

Russia launched a wave of attacks on Ukraine using more than 100 combat drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday. "Russian drones have been flying over Ukraine all morning. And this has become a daily occurrence,

Emergency services tackled huge fires in Kharkiv following overnight Russian drone strikes on Tuesday, 29 April. Footage from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) showed emergency services dousing large flames from damaged buildings as residents were assisted in areas covered in rubble.

President Trump "wants to see a permanent ceasefire first, to stop the killing, stop the bloodshed," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday a three-day cease-fire in its war with Ukraine is set to take place in May, but Ukrainian officials question its timing and validity.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces denied Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim over the weekend that Russian forces had fully retaken the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an offensive last year.

Russia's success removes another barrier to a peace deal Moscow was reluctant to conclude with so many enemy troops on its soil.