Key Points
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a one-day Easter ceasefire in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian defence ministry have said the other side had violated the truce.
- It comes after the US threatened to abandon Russia-Ukraine peace deal efforts unless rapid progress is made.
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for breaking a one-day Easter ceasefire announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with both sides accusing the other of carrying out hundreds of attacks.
Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that Ukraine had broken the ceasefire more than a thousand times, inflicting damages to infrastructure and causing civilian deaths.
The ministry said that Ukrainian forces had shot at Russian positions 444 times while it had counted more than 900 Ukrainian drone attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was pretending to observe the Easter ceasefire, but had in fact continued hundreds of artillery attacks on Saturday night, with more assaults on Sunday.
Zelenskyy wrote on the X social media platform that Russia had launched 26 assaults from midnight until midday local time.
"Either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favourable PR coverage," Zelenskyy's post said.
Earlier he said the Russian army "is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire", while continuing to inflict losses on Ukraine's front line.
Vladimir Putin (right) announced the ceasefire in a televised meeting with Russia's chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov (left). Source: AAP / Vyacheslav Prokofiev / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / EPA
The gesture followed that it could abandon peace talks within days unless Moscow and Kyiv showed they were serious about negotiating.
Fighting was to stop from 6 pm Moscow time on Saturday (1am Sunday AEST) until midnight on Sunday night, Putin said.
"Based on humanitarian considerations ... the Russian side announces an Easter truce. I order a stop to all military activities for this period," Putin told Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia's general staff, at a televised meeting.
"We assume that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions."
Zelenskyy responded by saying Ukraine would follow suit, and proposed extending the truce beyond Sunday. But the Ukrainian leader also accused Russia of having already broken its promises.
Zelenskyy said there had been hundreds of instances of shelling on Saturday evening. Early on Sunday, Ukrainian forces reported 59 instances of shelling and five assault attempts along the front line, he said.
Shortly after the announcement, around an hour before it was due to take effect, air raid sirens rang out in Kyiv.
Another warning was put in place briefly in Kyiv and the region around the capital about four hours after the ceasefire deadline.
As of 45 minutes before the truce was meant to start, Ukrainian planes were repelling Russian air strikes, Zelenskyy said in a post on social media platform X.
'Evil may have its hour but God will have his day'
In a post later on X, Zelenskyy quoted Ukraine's top commander as saying that Russian assault operations "continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided."
"Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow."
Zelenskyy later expanded on the commander's report, saying Putin's ceasefire did not apply to Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions, border areas where Ukrainian forces have made incursions and where hostilities were still going on.
"Fighting continues, Russian strikes continue," he wrote, without providing evidence.
Zelenskyy said that in some areas along the front: "Russian artillery still sounds, rather than any promise of silence from the Russian leader. Russian drones are being used. In some sectors it is quieter."
He recalled that Russia had last month rejected the US-proposed full 30-day ceasefire and said that if Russia 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," Zelenskyy wrote.
Zelenskyy also urged Ukrainians on Easter Sunday not to give up hope that peace will return to their country and to persevere to overcome the difficult path of war.
"Evil may have its hour but God will have his day," Zelenskyy said while standing in front of Kyiv's main church wearing a grey traditional Ukrainian vyshyvanka embroidered shirt.
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 airstrikes 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.
The situation at the front could not be independently verified.
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.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its troops had been instructed about the ceasefire and would adhere to it, provided it was "mutually respected" by Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio had said on Friday unless there were clear signs of progress soon.
Trump has vowed to bring a swift end to the war, while shifting US policy from firmly supporting Ukraine towards accepting Russia'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.
Easter truce announcement comes after deadly Sumy attack
Putin announced his Easter truce a week after a 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 Ukraine and its European allies to press Washington to take a tougher line towards Russia.
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 Ukraine rejected.
Separately, Russia and Ukraine confirmed a swap of prisoners of war on Saturday, mediated by the UAE.
Each released 246 prisoners, while a further 31 wounded Ukrainians were transferred in exchange for 15 injured Russian soldiers, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
Visit the to access articles, podcasts and videos from SBS News, NITV and our teams covering more than 60 languages.
