Source : the age
London/Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of creating a false appearance of honouring an Easter ceasefire, saying 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,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
Despite Putin’s declaration of a ceasefire from 6pm on Saturday, Moscow time, to midnight on Easter Sunday, 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.
President Vladimir Putin and Russian Chief of General Staff Geneal Valery Gerasimov at the Kremlin on Saturday.Credit: AP
Zelensky emphasised that Russia must fully adhere to the ceasefire conditions and reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days, starting from Sunday midnight.
He said the proposal “remains on the table” and that “we will act in accordance with the actual situation on the ground”.
Late on Saturday, Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson said Ukrainian forces also continued their attacks.
“Ukrainian troops continue to strike peaceful cities in the Kherson region, violating the Easter truce,” Moscow-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo wrote on his Telegram channel.
Just hours after the Russian president announced the ceasefire, he attended an Easter service 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.
Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire, which he said was for humanitarian reasons, would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.
His announcement came after Washington said on Friday that it could abandon peace talks within days unless Moscow and Kyiv showed they were serious about negotiating.
Zelensky recalled that Russia last month rejected a full 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States and said that if Moscow agreed to “truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly – mirroring Russia’s actions”.
“If a complete ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond the Easter day of April 20,” Zelensky wrote.
In Brussels, a European Union spokesperson expressed caution over the proclaimed ceasefire, saying: “Russia has a track record as an aggressor, so first we need to see any actual halt of the aggression and clear deeds for a lasting ceasefire.”
A British foreign ministry spokesperson said: “Ukraine has committed to a full ceasefire. We urge Russia to do the same.”
Little faith
Kyiv residents expressed little faith in the ceasefire, saying similar past moves by Putin had had little effect.
“This man is not capable of reaching any sort of a deal. He does not know how to do that,” said Tetiana Solovei, 65.
“Tonight, in Ukraine and especially in Kyiv, we expect missiles. There will be no ceasefire.”
Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said Russian forces continued to fire on Ukrainian positions after the truce was meant to have taken effect.
The governor of southern Ukraine’s Kherson province said Russian air strikes began shortly before the truce was to start and continued after. He posted a picture of a damaged building.
“Unfortunately, we are not seeing any sort of calm here. The shelling continues and our civilians are under fire,” he wrote on Telegram.
Reuters could not independently verify the situation at the front.
Ukrainian bloggers who cover the war said firing continued along the entire line of contact. But public broadcaster Suspilne quoted servicemen on the eastern front as saying the number of Russian attacks had declined.
Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Friday that the United States would walk away from efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal unless there were clear signs of progress soon.
Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for Putin who travelled to Washington this month, posted news of the ceasefire on X, adding: “One step closer to peace” and an emoji of a dove.
Trump has vowed to bring a swift end to the war, while shifting US policy from firmly supporting Kyiv towards accepting Moscow’s account of the conflict.
Last month, after Ukraine accepted Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce but Moscow rejected it, the sides agreed only to limited pauses of attacks on energy targets and at sea, which each accuses the other of breaking.
Putin announced his Easter truce a week after a Russian missile attack killed 35 people and wounded nearly 120 in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, including Christians heading to celebrate Palm Sunday.
That attack, the deadliest against civilians of the year so far, spurred Kyiv and its European allies to press Washington to take a tougher line towards Moscow.
Putin has proclaimed unilateral pauses in fighting in the past with little impact, including a 36-hour proposed truce for Orthodox Christmas in January 2023, which Kyiv rejected.
