KYIV, Reuters – On Thursday, the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, in western Ukraine, urged residents to forgo public gatherings or, if possible leave the town, due to Russian missile strike fears.

After warnings from Ukrainian officials, he made his announcement before the May 9th commemoration of Russia’s defeat over Nazi Germany.

Ruslan Martsinkiv, Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk stated in an online video that he has cancelled all official events at Ivano-Frankivsk for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

According to him, “We have information that the enemy plans to launch more missile strikes.” He said. For your safety, I ask you to please stay home on these three days… or leave town if possible.

The assertion of missile strikes could not be supported by evidence and he did not provide any details about the information he was referring to.

Russia has not yet commented on the remarks. Moscow denied that it targeted civilians, and said that its military operations in Ukraine were not linked to any specific date.

According to the Kremlin, there is no speculation President Vladimir Putin will declare war on Ukraine. Russia’s actions are described by him as “special military operations”.

According to Ukraine’s defense ministry, Russia tried to speed up its offensive in east Ukraine on Wednesday. However, an aide to the Ukrainian president said that Russia did not anticipate any “significant” results for May 9.

A curfew was also declared by local officials in Zaporizhzhia on May 8, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., in a sign that Ukraine is not at peace.