Ukraine said Putin's announcement bore no relation to life on the ground as air raid sirens rang out in Kyiv
Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia andUkraine“will make a deal this week” to end the three-year-long conflict, after Vladimir Putin’s “Easter truce” expired at midnight Moscow time (10pm BST).
Russia andUkraineblamed each other for hundreds of attacks throughout the 30-hour truce as the Kremlin said there were “no other commands” from Putin for the ceasefire to be extended beyond the weekend.
Commenting for the first time since Putin announced the pause in fighting, the US President wrote on Truth Social that both Moscow and Kyiv would “start to do big business” with the US once a peace agreement was reached. He wrote that they would each “make a fortune” with his “thriving” country.
The US State Department separately said it would welcome a ceasefire extension beyond Sunday.
Zelensky, meanwhile, reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow had not responded to Kyiv’s proposal.
Ukraine said Putin’s “Easter truce” announcement bore no relation to life on the ground as air raid sirens rang out in Kyiv and missiles rained down along the 600-mile front line.
“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,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
On Easter Sunday Zelensky said Russian units had carried out hundreds of shellings and drone flights across the war-torn country. Fighting was also reported in Luhansk and Donetsk.
“Either Putin does not fully control his army, or the situation proves that they in Russia do not have the goal of a real movement until the end of the war and they only need profitable PR in the media,” Zelensky said.
Despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, Zelensky said: “The trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues.”
Russia’s Defence Ministry also accused Ukrainian forces of overnight attacks in the Donetsk region despite the ceasefire. It said Ukraine had sent 48 drones into Russian territory. According to the ministry, there were “dead and wounded among the civilian population,” without giving details. It claimed Russian troops had strictly observed the truce.
Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson also said Ukrainian forces had launched attacks.
Just hours after announcing the ceasefire, Putin attended an Easter service late Saturday at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a vocal supporter of Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.
His announcement came after Donald Trump said Friday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.
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Putin, when announcing the ceasefire, said the truce would show whether or not Ukraine was ready or able to implement peace. Putin thanked Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economies for attempts to mediate.
The European Union reacted cautiously to Putin’s ceasefire declaration, saying Moscow could stop the war immediately if it wanted to.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated support “for meaningful efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”.
Easter falls on the same day this year for Orthodox and Western churches, and Zelensky urged Ukrainians not to give up hope that peace will one day return.
“We know what we are defending. We know what we are fighting for,” he said in a social media video, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt and standing in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
