Why Russia Violated Every Ceasefire for 12 Years, Even Those They Proposed

Kyiv Post scrutinizes 17 ceasefires starting with the Kremlin’s initial invasion of Ukraine in February 2014. Since the first one on June 20, 2014, all have been violated by the Russians. Here, Kyiv Post covers why Russia does so and what Ukraine and its allies could do. Make us preferred on Google Flip Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / This handout photograph taken and released on May 5, 2026 by the press service of the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces shows people gathered next to a victim of a Russian air attack wrapped in a plastic sheet in Kramatorsk, eastern Donetsk region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by IRYNA RYBAKOVA / The 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate / AFP) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia “has fought itself into a situation where now Ukraine decides whether the parade there will take place or not.” The feverish preparations in Moscow for the May 9 “parade” – the redeployment of air defense systems from across the country to the capital, calls to US President Donald Trump asking him to pressure Ukraine not to strike Moscow on the day of the parade – demonstrate Moscow’s weakness. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . “Every day Russia can make the choice and stop its war. And not for a few hours in order to receive our permission to hold a parade in Moscow, but in order to save people’s lives,” Zelensky remarked. Russia itself, on the night of May 8, declared a “ceasefire regime” from May 8 to May 10, which it immediately violated. It would be more accurate to say that it never began – throughout the night Russia attacked Ukraine with guided aerial bombs, missiles, and drones that had been launched before the start of the ceasefire, meaning it is logical to assume that the ceasefire was never even planned and existed merely for the sake of announcing it. Ukraine, throughout the night, carried out retaliatory strikes – 270 drones flew to targets on Russian territory , and an oil refinery in Yaroslavl was hit. All of this occurred within the concept that Ukraine has adhered to since the summer of 2014 – carrying out strikes exclusively in response. Other Topics of Interest Russia Strikes Ukraine With Drones, Missile Amid Ceasefire Uncertainty Russia launched a ballistic missile and 43 strike drones against Ukraine, hitting six locations and causing civilian deaths. In the Chernihiv region, a father and son were killed during a drone strike on an agricultural enterprise. The attack occurred as a US-mediated three-day ceasefire was scheduled to begin. While the Air Force confirmed the timing of the strikes, it remained unclear if the bombardment continued after the midnight start of the truce, which was tied to a large-scale prisoner exchange and Victory Day events. Thus, on May 5, Zelensky, in response to Russia’s proposal for a ceasefire from May 8–10 so that Putin could calmly hold a parade in Moscow (even in a reduced format), made a counter-proposal – Ukraine would cease hostilities starting on the night from May 5 to May 6. In the event of violations by Russia, Ukraine would respond symmetrically. H ow this ceasefire ended was predictable – Russia attacked within the very first minutes after midnight. Several hours earlier, Russian forces had struck the center of the city of Kramatorsk in Donbas with aerial bombs, attacked Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro with missiles, and targeted the city of Merefa in the Kharkiv region with drones. In total, more than 20 Ukrainian civilians were killed that day. This does not look much like a desire for peace. And this is not the first time. Since 2014, when the Russian-Ukrainian war began with Russia’s attack on Crimea, there have been more than 20 ceasefires between Ukraine and Russia. ALL of them without exception were violated by Russia, and all ended in nothing. The war between Ukraine and Russia has been ongoing since the end of February 2014 . It was then that Russian troops invaded the territory of Ukrainian Crimea. The first shots were fired on March 18, 2014 – their victim was Ukrainian Armed Forces Warrant Officer Serhii Kokurin. He died on March 18, 2014 during the assault on the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) Main Directorate of Operational Support’s 13th Photogrammetric Center in Simferopol. After that came the hybrid invasion of Donbas by Russian armed special-purpose units, which, after seizing warehouses and police departments in Ukrainian cities (Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Luhansk), began distributing weapons to local criminal and pro-Russian elements. On April 12, with the support of Russian military personnel and under the direction of Russian handlers, the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” was proclaimed on Ukrainian territory. In response, Ukraine declared the Anti-Terrorist Operation regime on April 14. The first shots on Donbas against the Russian occupiers had sounded a day earlier. The first battle was fought by the SBU Alpha special forces group, and the first shot at the Russian occupiers (including Igor Girkin’s detachment) was fired by Col. Vadym Sukharevskyi, who gave the order to open fire to kill, saving the group. Very quickly Russia began sending unmarked, ghost soldier military personnel to Donbas under the guise of “local militias,” of which there is now extensive evidence. Heavy weaponry also arrived – tanks, GRAD systems, even Buk anti-aircraft missile systems, which a Russian crew used to shoot down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 . On August 24, 2014, an open “badged-up” invasion by the Russian Armed Forces directly onto Ukrainian territory began, no longer disguised as “locals” – the Pskov-Ryazan airborne division of the Russian Armed Forces invaded Donetsk region , helping the unmarked Russian units avoid encirclement in Donetsk. This prolonged the war for another 12 years. Beginning as early as the summer of 2014, international partners pressured Ukraine and Russia to introduce ceasefires. However, the pressure was, of course, unequal, because it is always more difficult to pressure the aggressor than the victim. Ukraine was forced to agree to ceasefire conditions, and Russia violated nearly all of them with virtually complete impunity vis-à-vis the international community. Many analysts believe that Russia’s absolution in 2014 and the pressure on Ukraine demanding ceasefires were analogous to the “appeasement policy” toward Hitler in the 1930s and led Russia to dare launch a full-scale war in Europe in 2022. There were 17 in total, not counting situational local arrangements on specific sections of the front established by fighting units for exchanging bodies directly on the front line. After Feb. 24, 2022, all ceasefire ideas were sabotaged by Russia. Individual days that were considered “ceasefires” were in fact merely days of reduced intensity in hostilities, but overall combat operations did not stop. As we can see, all ceasefires began with Russian troops remaining on occupied Ukrainian territory (before 2022 there was no discussion of military operations on internationally recognized Russian territory). Most international partners were satisfied even with such formats of “ceasefires,” in which Ukraine ceased fire (except for retaliatory strikes), while Russia merely reduced the intensity of hostilities. After Donald Trump came to power, Russia’s manipulation of ceasefires took on a grotesque character – Russia declares readiness for short “silence regimes” only in between major operations, because it still needs time to prepare troops for continuing combat operations (or strategic aviation for another missile strike), and in this way seeks to prevent the Ukrainian side from disrupting this preparation stage. We return to what was said at the beginning of the article. All ceasefires with Russia did not lead to peace. All of them were violated by Russia or used to strengthen and regroup forces in order to intensify offensives after the so-called “ceasefires” ended. Many Ukrainian military personnel noted that the aggressor benefited more from all “ceasefires” because, when necessary, it gained another round of negotiations with the West, and when necessary, it simply reinforced its exhausted troops. The most important thing in any ceasefire is whether there is an actual goal of peace overall. For Russia, peace has never been the goal. If it had been, the war would have ended long ago.