Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of breaching an “Easter truce” announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine said was being violated from the moment it started.
Putin will not be extending the ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency on Sunday. The ceasefire expires at midnight (21:00 GMT).
In a surprise announcement on Saturday, Putin ordered his forces to “stop all military activity” along the front line in the war against Ukraine, citing humanitarian reasons. The 30-hour cessation of hostilities would have been the most significant pause in the fighting throughout the three-year conflict.
But just hours after the order was meant to have come into effect, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv and several other Ukrainian regions, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing Russia of having maintained its attacks and engaging in a PR stunt.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence also alleged on Sunday that Ukraine had broken the truce more than 1,000 times.
“Across various frontline directions, there have already been 59 cases of Russian shelling and five assaults by Russian units,” Zelenskyy said on social media, citing a report as of 6am (03:00 GMT) from Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii.
He said in the six hours up to midnight (21:00 GMT on Saturday), there were “387 instances of shelling and 19 assaults by Russian forces”, with drones “used by Russians 290 times”.
“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,” Zelenskyy said.
“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 favourable PR coverage,” he added.
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