Exchanging accusations between Kyiv and Moscow over violating the Easter truce
Russia and Ukraine traded accusations on Sunday of violating a brief Easter truce announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin a day earlier and agreed to by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
For his part, US President Donald Trump expressed hope on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine could reach a peace agreement this week, pledging thriving trade with the United States for both warring parties if they sign a truce agreement.
On Sunday evening, Zelensky accused Russia of violating the Easter truce “more than 2,000 times,” but confirmed that no Russian airstrikes had taken place during the day.
He proposed “a halt to any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for at least 30 days”.
The Ukrainian president said that Russia had carried out attacks in the Pokrovsk and Seversk sectors on the eastern front, accusing the Russian army of “continuing to use heavy weapons”.
In Russia, the Ministry of Defense reported failed Ukrainian attempts to “attack Russian positions” in the Sukhaya Balka and Bogatyr areas of the Donetsk People’s Republic, referring to villages in the Russian-controlled part of the eastern Donetsk region.
Moscow announced that Kyiv also attacked the Russian border regions of Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod, noting that “civilians were killed and wounded”.
Regarding the ceasefire, which is scheduled to expire at 21:00 GMT, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained to Russian news agencies that Putin “hasn’t issued any order to extend it”.
These accusations highlight the difficulty of imposing a ceasefire, even for just 30 hours, in the ongoing fighting that has been ongoing since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
“Enemy activity has significantly decreased in the Zaporizhia and Kharkov regions, where we are constantly active,” a Ukrainian drone unit commander told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to few isolated incidents.
The Ukrainian officer, who is stationed in the northeastern Sumy region, said Sunday night and morning were calmer than usual, noting that there was no Russian artillery shelling.
“Overall, on Easter morning, we can confirm that the Russian military is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, while making isolated attempts in some areas to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote, citing a report by Army Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Putin announced a brief truce on Saturday for Easter, and Zelensky accepted the proposal. However, both presidents ordered their forces to respond to any violation of the truce.
The brief ceasefire comes as Trump has been pressuring Moscow and Kyiv to accept a truce, but has failed to extract concessions from the Kremlin.
Trump said Friday that the United States would focus on other priorities if an agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine wasn’t reached soon.
