Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of creating a false appearance of honouring its self-proclaimed “Easter truce” as the Ukrainian President said Moscow continued to launch attacks throughout the weekend.
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).
Ukraine said Putin’s announcement bore no relation to life on the ground as air raid sirens rang out in Kyiv and missiles rained down along the 600-mile front line, some four hours after the proposed truce was expected to begin.
“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.
On Easter Sunday Zelensky said Russian units had carried out hundreds of shellings and drone flights across the war-torn country. Fighting was also reported in Luhansk and Donetsk.
“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)Despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, Zelensky said: “The trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues.”
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.
The US State Department also said it would welcome the extension beyond Sunday of the one-day ceasefire.
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’s Defence Ministry also accused Ukrainian forces of overnight attacks in the Donetsk region despite the ceasefire. It said Ukraine had sent 48 drones into Russian territory. According to the ministry, there were “dead and wounded among the civilian population,” without giving details. It claimed Russian troops had strictly observed the truce.
Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson also said Ukrainian forces had launched attacks.
Just hours after announcing the ceasefire, Putin attended an Easter service late Saturday at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a vocal supporter of Putin and the war in Ukraine.
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.
His announcement came after Donald Trump said Friday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.
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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.
The European Union reacted cautiously to Putin’s ceasefire declaration, saying Moscow could stop the war immediately if it wanted to.
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”.
Easter falls on the same day this year for Orthodox and Western churches, and Zelensky urged Ukrainians not to give up hope that peace will one day return.
“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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