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Headline‘I don’t think the situation in Ukraine will change for the better anytime soon’ says Londoner from Ukraine as 3-day ceasefire begins

Short Headline3-day ceasefire 'is just the beginning'

StandfirstRussian President Vladimir Putin announced a three-day ceasefire for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, from today to the 10th of May.

Ukraine is entering its first day of ceasefire, after Russian President Vladimir announced a temporary truce for the 8th of May. But Polina Polozhentseva, who left her native Ukraine to leave in London in 2022, thinks this is “just the beginning”.

Ukraine enters its first day under a short ceasefire that will last until the 11th of May, as Europe and the world celebrate the 80th anniversaries of the Allies victories and the end of World War Two.

Polina is a Ukrainian playwright from Zaporizhzhia who wrote ‘A Fan of War’, a play about the challenges of Ukrainians living the war from abroad.

She now lives in London, but she still has family back in Ukraine. For her, the truce doesn’t bring much hope.

“I don’t know why people from European countries think that the war will end soon. My feeling is that it is just the beginning,” says Polina as she reflects on the impact of the truce on the situation in Ukraine.

On the 1st of May, her apartment’s windows in Zaporizhzhia blew out after a strike. She reports that one of her neighbours died, and several people were injured. City News was not able to verify these facts independently.

There have been several attempts at getting a temporary ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. The most recent one being the 30-hour Easter truce, also announced by Russia. Both countries have accused each other of multiple violations of the ceasefire. For Polina, this short ceasefire is just one more attempt.

“In the 11 years of war in Ukraine, [since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, ed. ] I have never seen Russia declare a truce or ceasefire and adhere to it. I am certain they will continue to fire.”

Dr Björn Alexander Düben, Russian Foreign Policy expert and Lecturer in International Relations at Foreign College Berlin, also doesn’t have high hopes for this ceasefire:

“Unfortunately, I don’t think there are [hopes]. It is now becoming evident that the Kremlin has no genuine interest in a timely resolution of the war and will seek to continue its invasion until all of its primary objectives are attained.”

While Polina see these short ceasefire are a “show”, the German academic, also view them as “symbolic”. He thinks they follow a “very simple, self-serving reason”.

“Putin wants to give off the impression that he is willing to make some minor concessions. These are symbolic gestures that do not risk seriously slowing down Russia’s ongoing military offensive. In actual fact, he appears to have no genuine interest in winding down his military campaign.”

Starting the truce on the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War bears a lot of meaning too, and for the expert, there is a very clear reason to chose this date.

The reason to chose this week “is that Putin wants to be undisturbed by Ukrainian attacks whilst staging his annual Victory Day Parade. 9 May is de facto Russia’s most important national holiday (…) The Kremlin has promised the ‘grandest’ ever Victory Day Parade in Moscow.” – Dr Björn Alexander Düben

Three days remains a relatively short time compared to the 30 days ceasefire Ukraine asked for. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his daily address to Ukrainians on X yesterday to reiterate his desire for a longer truce:

“Ukraine’s proposal for a ceasefire of at least 30 days still stands, we are not withdrawing it, as it offers a real chance for diplomacy. But it is Russia that the world sees giving no answer—no response except for new strikes.”

The future of this truce will become clearer over the coming days.