A series of Russian drone and missile attacks struck several Ukrainian regions overnight, mere hours after the expiration of a 30-hour “Easter truce” declared by the Kremlin.
Ukraine’s military reported explosions in multiple areas, including the southern city of Mykolaiv, where Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych confirmed residents heard blasts, though details of casualties remain unclear.
Air raid alerts were issued across the Kyiv region and in Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia, as Ukraine’s air force warned of a “rocket danger” and active Russian aviation in the northeast and east.
The ceasefire, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, began at 18:00 Moscow time (15:00 GMT) on Saturday and ended at midnight on Sunday. It was intended to mark Orthodox Easter, but both Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of violating the truce.
Despite initial compliance, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces launched a total of 1,882 attacks during the ceasefire window—812 involving heavy weaponry—with the fiercest fighting concentrated near the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region.
“This Easter has clearly demonstrated that the only source of this war, and the reason it drags on, is Russia,” Zelensky said in a televised address. He dismissed Putin’s ceasefire declaration as a “PR stunt” aimed at misleading the international community, calling the Kremlin’s words “empty”.
“For this period, I order all military actions to cease,” Putin had stated Saturday, instructing troops to be ready to repel provocations. The Russian defense ministry insisted it adhered strictly to the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of using US-supplied Himars missiles during the truce. Ukraine has not responded to the specific allegation but maintains its military operations are defensive.
The sudden collapse of the truce comes as diplomatic pressure intensifies. Former US President Donald Trump expressed hope for a peace deal “this week,” though he offered no details. Washington, meanwhile, reiterated its support for a full and lasting ceasefire.
“It is long past time to stop the death and destruction and end this war,” a US State Department spokesperson said on Sunday.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and currently occupies around 20% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, annexed in 2014. Since the conflict began, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed or wounded on both sides.
Last month, Russia proposed a set of conditions in response to calls for an unconditional ceasefire from Ukraine and the United States. However, as fresh violence unfolds across Ukraine, the path to peace remains fraught and uncertain.
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