Easter truce falters as Ukraine reports continued Russian attacks
An armoured Ukrainian military vehicle drives on a road in a village not far from the frontline in the Dnipropetrovsk region, on April 19, 2025. (AFP Photo)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russian forces have continued their offensive operations along the front line despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a surprise Easter truce.
The 30-hour cease-fire, which began Saturday evening, would have marked the most significant pause in the three-year conflict but appeared to break down almost immediately.
“Across various frontline directions, there have already been 59 cases of Russian shelling and five assaults by Russian units,” Zelenskyy reported on social media, citing information from Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky as of 6:00 a.m. local time.
In the six hours before midnight Saturday, Ukrainian forces documented “387 instances of shelling and 19 assaults by Russian forces,” with drones “used by Russians 290 times,” according to Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader stated Russia is “attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire, while in some areas continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine.” He warned that Ukraine would respond “symmetrically” to any attacks.
Meanwhile, officials in Russian-held areas of eastern Ukraine accused Kyiv’s troops of violating the cease-fire with shelling of an occupied village and town. A reporter for the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti in occupied Donetsk reported hearing explosions and seeing a fire Sunday morning.
Putin’s ceasefire order came amid months of diplomatic efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to broker a pause in fighting. The Biden administration had threatened on Friday to withdraw from peace talks if no progress was made.
Peace prospects uncertain
Putin announced the truce from 6:00 p.m. Saturday to midnight Sunday in televised comments during a meeting with the Russian chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, citing “humanitarian reasons” for the Easter holiday pause.
Zelenskyy initially said Ukraine would follow suit and proposed extending the truce beyond Sunday. “Russia must fully comply with the conditions of the ceasefire. Ukraine’s proposal to implement and extend the ceasefire for 30 days after midnight tonight remains on the table,” he stated.
“Thirty days could give peace a chance,” Zelenskyy added, noting that Putin had already rejected a proposed 30-day full and unconditional cease-fire.
Previous attempts at holiday cease-fires—for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023—failed when both sides could not reach an agreement.
Public skepticism
In Kyiv, residents expressed doubts about Russia’s commitment to the truce while supporting Zelenskyy’s extension proposal.
“They’ve already broken their promise. Unfortunately, we cannot trust Russia today,” said Olga Grachova, 38, a market trader in Kyiv.
Sergiy Klochko, 30, a railway worker, was more hopeful: “Our president has clearly said that if they announce a 30-hour ceasefire, we will announce a 30-day cease-fire. So let them go for it… so that this terrible war ends, so that our people, our soldiers, and children stop dying.”
But Natalia, a 41-year-old medic, remained pessimistic: “Everything we offer, unfortunately, remains only our offers. Nobody responds to them.”
In Moscow, at least one resident opposed any pause in military operations. “There is no need to give them respite. If we press, it means we should press to the end,” said Yevgeny Pavlov, 58.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the conflict now in its fourth year.
