Russia, Ukraine accuse each other of breaking Easter ceasefire

RUSSIA AND UKRAINE blamed each other on Sunday for breaking a one-day Easter ceasefire declared by President Vladimir Putin, with both sides accusing the other of carrying out hundreds of attacks.

- REUTERS

Putin, who sent thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, ordered Russian forces to "stop all military activity" along the front line in the three-year-old war until midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT) on Sunday.

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. Russia launched 46 assaults from midnight until 4 pm local time (13.00 GMT), including with heavy weapons, Zelenskiy wrote on the X social media platform.

"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 posted.