Russia and Ukraine exchanged accusations on Sunday over breaches of a 32-hour ceasefire in their ongoing four-year conflict, with both sides reporting extensive drone and shelling attacks shortly after the truce began on Saturday to observe Orthodox Easter.
The Russian Defence Ministry documented 1,971 ceasefire violations overnight into Sunday, while Ukraine’s General Staff reported 479 shelling incidents and more than 1,700 drone strikes by Russian forces. This year, Orthodox Easter, celebrated by the dominant faith in both countries, fell on Sunday.
A Ukrainian soldier from the 65th Brigade engaged in fighting around Zaporizhzhia described ongoing Russian reconnaissance drone activity despite the ceasefire, which hindered efforts to retrieve fallen comrades. Known by the call sign Spider, the soldier said, “We wanted to evacuate our fallen comrades today, but the Russians are not allowing it yet,” during a candle-lit military Easter service.
Russia claimed that a child was among civilians injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kursk region. Additionally, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, reported two fatalities caused by Ukrainian shelling. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s State Emergencies Service confirmed that two civilians were wounded in a Russian drone strike in the Kharkiv region on Sunday. Independent verification of these military activities was not possible.
In a significant development, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the truce as a “humanitarian gesture” from President Vladimir Putin but emphasized that Russian forces would resume combat operations once the ceasefire concluded. He added that Putin had instructed the military to maintain high alert in case of provocations.
President Putin announced the temporary ceasefire for Orthodox Easter on April 9, with the truce scheduled to end at midnight (2100 GMT) on Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose earlier ceasefire proposals had been rejected by Moscow, consented to this temporary halt in fighting.
