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Agence France-Presse

A truce between Russia and Ukraine to mark the Orthodox Easter formally expired on Monday, both sides having accused each other of thousands of violations, despite a lull in Russian air raids.
The truce lasted 32 hours, from 4pm on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday.
Both sides had agreed to observe the ceasefire, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday and which Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky proposed more than a week earlier.
But as with a similar agreement last year, only relative calm reigned along the 1,200km (745-mile) front line.

As of 10pm on Sunday, “7,696 violations by the enemy have been recorded”, the Ukrainian army said on Facebook.
Russia had adhered to the ceasefire to some extent, while continuing “combat operations in certain sectors, including the use of FPV drones and kamikaze drones”, it added.
Russia’s defence ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches of the truce.
“A total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4pm Moscow time on April 12 and 8am on April 12,” the ministry said on the state-pushed MAX messenger service.
Kyiv had fired 258 times using artillery or tanks, carried out 1,329 FPV drone strikes, and dropped “various types of munitions” on 375 occasions, notably via drones, Russia said.
Moscow also accused the Ukrainian military of launching “three nighttime attacks” against Russian positions and also “four attempts to advance” along the front line, adding that it had thwarted each one.

Zelensky had called for a longer ceasefire in his evening address Saturday, saying Ukraine had put the proposal to Russia.
But in comments aired Sunday, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected any extension unless the Ukrainian leader accepted Russia’s “well-known” terms.
“Until Zelensky musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires,” Peskov added, referring to the war in Ukraine.
In a sign that the truce had some effect, the Ukrainian army said it had recorded no long-range Shahed drone attacks, guided aerial bombings or missile strikes.
Ukraine has had to deal with barrages of hundreds of Russian drones on a near-nightly basis, prompting retaliation from Kyiv.
Recent months have seen several rounds of US-brokered negotiations fail to bring the warring parties closer to an agreement to stop the fighting, triggered by Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

The process has stalled further since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, with Washington’s attention having shifted towards Iran.
But even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over the issue of territory.
Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines.
But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants the whole of the Donetsk region despite it being partly controlled by Ukraine – a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable.
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Russia, whose battlefield advances have slowed since last year, has paid a high price in manpower for relatively small territorial gains.
Moscow occupies just over 19 per cent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.


Easter truce between Ukraine and Russia ends after thousands of violations

Russia and Ukraine begin 32-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Easter

Ukrainians sceptical as Russia’s Putin orders Easter truce

Why Japanese firm’s tie-up with Ukrainian drone maker sparks concerns in Russia

Ukraine war

An Orthodox priest blesses Russian conscripts during a ceremony in Bataysk, in the Rostov region of Russia on Friday. Photo: Reuters

People carry Easter baskets in Kyiv on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

A priest embraces a Ukrainian fighter in the Kharkiv region on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin during Orthodox Easter service in Moscow on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

An Orthodox chaplain sprinkles holy water on a Gara combat drone in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

A firefighter works at the site of a Russian drone strike near the town of Konotop in Ukraine on Friday. Photo: Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region via Reuters

Russian conscripts called up for military service line up in Bataysk in the Rostov region, Russia, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Beams of light illuminate the sky over the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers as friends and relatives take part in a joint prayer and candlelight vigil at Lychakiv Military Cemetery in Lviv, western Ukraine, on February 23. Photo: EPA

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin after a summit on Ukraine in Alaska last August. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

A firefighter works at the site of a Russian drone strike near the town of Konotop, Ukraine’s Sumy region, on Friday. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy Region/Reuters

Ukraine’s Zelensky fears Iran war may lead to less support to fight Russia’s invasion

Ukrainian experts work at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential area in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Friday. Photo: EPA

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Ukrainian servicemen practise flying drones at an undisclosed location in March amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: AFP

Iran war deflects attention from Ukraine as Russia starts spring offensive

Russian soldiers carry ammunition for a self-propelled cannon to fire towards a Ukrainian position. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry via AP

A resident of Lviv hangs the Ukrainian national flag on his balcony after the building was hit by a Russian drone. Photo: Reuters

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Reuters

UK tracked Russia submarines in alleged Atlantic ‘covert’ operation: defence secretary

Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey delivers a statement at 9 Downing Street in London on Thursday. Photo: AFP

An undated British Ministry of Defence handout image shows surface and subsurface satellite imagery of Russia’s Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI) associated vessels based at Olenya Guba in Russia. Photo: UK MOD Crown copyright / Handout via Reuters

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A brief 32-hour lull in the war is shattered as Kyiv and Moscow trade accusations of drone strikes, artillery and tank fire


A brief 32-hour lull in the war is shattered as Kyiv and Moscow trade accusations of drone strikes, artillery and tank fire.


Easter truce between Ukraine and Russia ends after thousands of violations

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A brief 32-hour lull in the war is shattered as Kyiv and Moscow trade accusations of drone strikes, artillery and tank fire

A brief 32-hour lull in the war is shattered as Kyiv and Moscow trade accusations of drone strikes, artillery and tank fire