2 weeks Ago
Russia's defence ministry is claiming Ukraine has broken President Vladimir Putin's "Easter truce" more than a thousand times, Russian news agencies reported. Mr Putin announced a surprise one-day ceasefire in Ukraine on Saturday for Easter, but Kyiv said Russian forces continued artillery fire. Meanwhile Russia's defence ministry said several blasts had ripped through a Russian-controlled city in eastern Ukraine on Sunday local time.
At least three blasts were heard in the city of Donetsk, which has been under Russia's control since 2014, according to the TASS state news agency. Reuters said it could not immediately independently verify these battlefield reports. The Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier Sunday local time that the Russian army was making a pretence of a pause in hostilities, continuing overnight attempts to inflict frontline losses on Ukraine. Mr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians not to give up hope that peace will return to their country and to persevere to overcome the three-year war. "We know what we are defending.
We know what we are fighting for. For whom and for whose sake. "The day of life will come.
The day of peace. The day of Ukraine. A day that lasts a century.
And we will be able to gather together again. At one table. On a peaceful Easter.
" Ukrainians celebrating Easter in the town of Bucha, in the Kyiv region. Early on Sunday, Ukrainian forces reported 59 instances of shelling and five assault attempts along the front line, Mr Zelenskyy added. Ukraine's military confirmed that activity on the frontline had decreased, but the fighting had not stopped.
"It is decreasing, but it hasn't disappeared," Viktor Trehubov, a military spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern front, told the national television. "To be honest, we didn't hold out much hope that this would actually happen." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian artillery fire has not subsided despite the Kremlin announcing an Easter ceasefire.
Trump's peace push The ceasefire followed a US announcement that it could abandon peace talks within days unless Moscow and Kyiv showed they were serious about negotiating. US President Donald 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 Mr Trump's proposal for a 30-day truce but Moscow rejected it, the sides agreed only to limited pauses of attacks, which each accuses the other of breaking.
Mr Zelenskyy reiterated that Kyiv was willing to extend the ceasefire for 30 days but said that if Russia kept fighting on Sunday, so would Ukraine. "Ukraine will continue to act in a mirror manner," he said. The European Union reacted cautiously to Mr Putin's ceasefire declaration, saying Moscow could stop the war immediately if it wanted to.
Easter falls on the same day this year for Orthodox and Western churches, and Mr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians in an Easter message not to give up hope that peace will return to their country. "We know what we are defending. We know what we are fighting for.
For whom and for whose sake," he said..
