In the official government statement announcing a temporary ceasefire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seemed to take the opportunity to troll Russia by including the precise military coordinates of the parade grounds that Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to protect.

Throughout the more than four-years-long war, Zelensky has drawn on his past career as a comedian and actor to express himself with wry humor, from his rejection of an offer of help from the U.S. to evacuate in the early days of the war (“I need ammunition, not a ride“) to the way he debunked Putin’s claims last December that Ukrainian troops in Kupiansk were surrounded — by showing up in person and posting selfies.

Recently, the Ukrainians have been able to strike targets further and further within Russian territory, jeopardizing Putin’s plans for the “Victory Day” parade scheduled for May 9 in Moscow’s Red Square, celebrating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Zelensky commemorated the day by bluntly accusing Russia of engaging in an “updated version of Nazism,” and The New York Times noted that Putin’s calls for a parade ceasefire were “widely viewed as an acknowledgment that Ukrainian drones posed a threat.”

Zelensky had treated Putin’s call for a pause in hostilities to protect his parade as “a sign of weakness,” the Times report added, and pushed for a broader ceasefire, instead of just a pause in hostilities “so they can safely take to the square for an hour once a year, and then go back to killing *our* people and waging war.”

In a video posted to his social media accounts, Zelensky drily dropped a warning to diplomats from Russia’s allies who were considering attending the parade. “An odd desire at a time like this,” he said — implying the threat of Ukrainian strikes in Moscow. “We do not recommend it.”

On Friday, however, a ceasefire agreement was in fact reached. President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social account “to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” adding that it “will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country.”

Zelensky once again reacted with an implied expression that Ukraine was ready, willing, and able to strike Moscow should the Russians violate the ceasefire.

In the official statement posted to the government website, Zelensky announced a “Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 374/2026 — On holding a parade in Moscow” (translation from Ukrainian by Google Translate).

The statement continued with a listing of the specific military coordinates for the Red Square:

Taking into account numerous requests, with a humanitarian purpose outlined in negotiations with the American side on May 8, 2026, I hereby decree:

1. To allow a parade to be held in Moscow (Russian Federation) on May 9, 2026.

For the duration of the parade (from 10 a.m. Kyiv time on May 9, 2026), the territorial square of Red Square shall be excluded from the plan for the use of Ukrainian weapons.

Red Square:

55.754413 37.617733
55.755205 37.619181
55.753351 37.622854
55.752504 37.621538

2. This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its signing.

President of Ukraine V. ZELENSKYY
May 8, 2026

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