Russia trying to create impression of a ceasefire, Zelensky says
He said Moscow continued to launch attacks overnight after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Sunday of creating a false appearance of honouring an Easter ceasefire.
He said Moscow continued to launch attacks overnight after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce in Ukraine.
“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,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on X.
Despite Mr Putin’s declaration of an Easter ceasefire on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had recorded 59 instances of Russian shelling and five assaults by units across various areas along the front line, as well as “dozens” of drone strikes.
In later updates, Mr Zelensky said that despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, “the trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues”.
He said, however, that it was “a good thing, at least, that there were no air raid sirens”.
He noted that some Ukrainian troops were killed in a Russian “ambush” on Sunday in the Donetsk region, and said the Russian soldiers responsible would be “eliminated”.
Russia’s Defence Ministry 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.
Mr Zelensky said Russia must fully adhere to the ceasefire conditions and reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days, starting on Sunday at midnight.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow had not responded to Kyiv’s proposal.
Just hours after the Russian president announced the ceasefire, he 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 Mr Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Mr 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 ceasefire announcement came after US President Donald Trump said on Friday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.
