Vladimir Putin announced the temporary 30-hour truce on Saturday, in a move that was met with scepticism in Kyiv as missiles and drones continued to fall. It is due to end at midnight local time (10pm BST).
“As of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places, it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
“Either Putin does not fully control his army, or the situation proves that they in Russia do not have the goal of a real movement until the end of the war and they only need profitable PR in the media,” Zelensky said.
A military chaplain blesses Ukrainian servicemen of the 100th brigade to celebrate Orthodox Easter in the Donetsk region (Photo: Roman Pilipey/AFP)Volodymyr Zelensky during Easter celebrations in Kyiv (Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP)Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days when it ends at midnight on Sunday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow had not responded to Kyiv’s proposal.
Five hours before the expiry, Russia’s TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying there was no order from Putin to extend the ceasefire. “There were no other commands,” Peskov said when asked if it could be prolonged.
Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson also said Ukrainian forces had launched attacks.
Vladimir Putin and Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill at an Orthodox Easter service at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow (Photo: Oleg Varov/AP)Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin during the celebration of the Orthodox Easter at the Christ The Saviour Cathedral (Photo: Getty)
Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.
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Under Putin, there will never be a real Ukraine peace-deal
Read MorePutin, when announcing the ceasefire, said the truce would show whether or not Ukraine was ready or able to implement peace. Putin thanked Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economies for attempts to mediate.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated support “for meaningful efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”.
“We know what we are defending. We know what we are fighting for,” he said in a social media video, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt and standing in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
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