Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of creating a “general impression” of a ceasefire while continuing to pummel parts of the front line, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing a brief cessation in fighting for Easter.
Putin’s surprise announcement on Saturday, ordering his forces to “stop all military activity” along the front line from 6 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday (11 a.m. ET) until midnight on Monday (5 p.m. Sunday ET) was met with immediate skepticism from Ukraine, although Kyiv agreed to the truce.
Questions were raised over Putin’s motives in calling the brief halt to hostilities, which came soon after the Trump administration threatened to abandon peace efforts without tangible signs of progress.
By Easter Sunday morning, the ceasefire had already been violated multiple times, Zelensky said. Ukraine’s military said that while activity along the front line had decreased, the fighting had not stopped.
Between 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, when the ceasefire went into effect, and midnight, there were 387 instances of shelling and 19 assaults by Russian forces, Zelensky said in a post on X.
“Overall, as of Easter morning we can state that the Russian army is attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire, while in some areas still continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelensky said, citing a report from General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
In Russia’s Kursk region – the scene of a shock Ukrainian incursion last year – Moscow’s forces conducted artillery strikes and used drones, he added.
“Everywhere our warriors are responding as the enemy deserves, based on the specific combat situation. Ukraine will continue to act symmetrically,” Zelensky said.
In a post later Sunday, Zelensky said Ukraine’s military had recorded an increase in Russian shelling and the use of “kamikaze” drones since 10 a.m. local time. “In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favorable PR coverage,” he added.
There does appear at least to be a let-up in the near-daily, deadly aerial attacks on Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force said it had not recorded any aerial threats from missiles or drones from Russia since Saturday night, while Russia’s Defense Ministry did not report any drone or missile attacks on Russia overnight.
For its part, Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday that its forces had been “strictly observing” the ceasefire since 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, and accused Ukraine of violating the pause in fighting over 1,000 times.
The ministry said that Ukrainian units had shot at Russian positions 444 times during the night, carried out over 900 drone attacks and used 48 plane-type UAVs.
“As a result, there were deaths and injuries among the civilian population and damage to civilian objects,” a statement from the ministry claimed.
The Ukrainian leader has called for the ceasefire to be extended to 30 days, in line with a US-led proposal last month. On Sunday morning, he said that the proposal still stands, despite the accusations of repeated violations.
“Russia must fully comply with the conditions of the ceasefire. Ukraine’s proposal to implement and extend the ceasefire for 30 days after midnight tonight remains on the table. We will act in accordance with the actual situation on the ground.”
Ukraine’s Armed Forces have stated that they will comply with orders to limit fire on Russia’s army, but would not show restraint if fired on first.
A commander on the ground warned Sunday: “Yesterday we were told to limit fire against the Russians. If they don’t assault or provoke us, we don’t fire. If they move or fire at us, we can answer.”
Putin said the ceasefire was on humanitarian grounds but added that his troops would respond to any “provocations.”