Volodymyr Zelensky has said Putin’s surprise Easter truce is nonsense as Russian forces continue their shelling and assaults along the front line on Sunday.
The 30-hour truce starting Saturday evening would be the most significant pause in the fighting throughout the three-year conflict.
But on Sunday Zelensky accused Russia of having maintained its attacks on the front line after the truce started at 3pm Saturday.
‘Across various frontline directions, there have already been 59 cases of Russian shelling and five assaults by Russian units,’ Zelensky said on social media, citing a report as of 6:00am from Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky.
He said that in the six hours up to midnight Saturday, there were ‘387 instances of shelling and 19 assaults by Russian forces,’ with drones ‘used by Russians 290 times’.
Ukraine’s air force on Sunday morning did not report any drone or missile attacks, however.
‘Overall, as of Easter morning, we can state that the Russian army is attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire, while in some areas still continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,’ Zelensky’s post said.
Ukraine will respond ‘symmetrically’ to any attacks, Zelensky said.
Officials in Russian-held areas of east Ukraine in turn accused Kyiv’s troops of violating the ceasefire with shelling of an occupied village and town.
A reporter for RIA Novosti state news agency in the Russian-held city of Donetsk reported hearing explosions and seeing a fire on Sunday morning.
It comes after Zelensky challenged the Kremlin warmonger to continue the 30-hour ceasefire for 30 days, as US President Donald Trump had earlier demanded.
Few experts expect Putin – who attended a late night Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour along with Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin – to agree since he is advancing in many areas along the frontline.
The lull – which Zelensky ordered Ukrainian forces to respect – followed weeks of Putin pounding civilians, killing innocent people including children.
Despite this, pictures show how a Russian drone targeted a civilian car more than an hour into Putin’s truce at Urozhayne, in Kherson region.
An hour later, another drone attacked the settlement.
Footage showed an apartment block ablaze in the Dnipro district of Kherson – after a brutal strike on civilians minutes before the Putin truce came into effect.
A Kherson civilian man, born in 1967, died from strikes ahead of the lull.
‘If complete silence really reigns, Ukraine proposes to extend it beyond Easter [Sunday] on April 20,’ said the Ukrainian president.
‘This will show Russia’s true intentions, because 30 hours are enough for headlines, but not for real confidence-building measures. Thirty days can give peace a chance.’
Zelensky said: ‘In general, 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.
‘Russia must fully comply with the conditions of silence.
‘The Ukrainian proposal to implement and extend the silence for 30 days after 24:00 today remains valid.
‘We will act in accordance with the real situation.’
He stressed: ‘Our soldiers are responding everywhere as the enemy deserves in specific combat circumstances. Ukraine will continue to act in a mirror manner.’
Despite this, Putin did not use his powerful missiles or heavy drones to destroy civilian facilities as he has done in recent days and weeks.
Russian military channels admitted the Easter truce was announced to impress Trump – and is being used to rotate troops.
Rybar Telegram channel said a 30-hour ceasefire ‘will not give the enemy a significant military advantage, but will become an important element strengthening Russia’s diplomatic position’.
It stated: ‘Being the first to announce a ceasefire and demonstrating readiness for a peace initiative is, first and foremost, work for an external audience.
‘Especially against the backdrop of ongoing consultations with foreign countries.’
Military channel Two Majors said Russian forces should ‘strictly observe the ceasefire objectives’ adding: ‘It is you who determine Russia’s political agenda in the international arena today.’
Wear proponent Boris Rozhin boasted: ‘Even a temporary truce for a day without drone strikes and without intensive shelling will allow for the desired rotation to be carried out in certain areas, which in normal frontline conditions is either difficult or simply impossible.’