CNN
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Ukraine accused Russia of breaching the Easter truce that was announced without prior warning by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Putin of solely being thinking about PR.
In a shock transfer on Saturday, Putin mentioned he had ordered his forces to “cease all navy exercise” from 6 p.m. Moscow time that day (11 a.m. ET) till midnight Sunday into Monday (5 p.m. Sunday ET).
Ukrainian officers urged Russia to increase the truce. Nevertheless, the expiration time got here with no point out of an extension from Russia.
Earlier on Sunday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned that Putin had not given a command to increase the temporary Easter ceasefire past the beforehand introduced timeframe, in line with the Russian state information company TASS.
Ukrainian leaders mentioned that whereas there was some slowdown in combating in a single day, the variety of assaults performed by Russia started to rise once more as Sunday wore on. In the meantime, the Russian Ministry of Protection accused Ukraine of breaching the ceasefire.
Putin’s announcement was met with instant skepticism from Ukraine, though Kyiv agreed to the 30-hour truce; there have been no pauses in combating since Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Questions had been raised over Putin’s motives in calling the temporary halt to hostilities, which got here simply after the Trump administration threatened to desert peace efforts with out tangible indicators of progress. Russia has beforehand rejected a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that was agreed to by Ukraine.
On Sunday, Trump mentioned that “hopefully” Russia and Ukraine would strike an settlement. He didn’t specify what kind of deal could be made between the 2 warring nations.
Putin’s truce got here simply hours after the Russian navy introduced that it had pushed Ukraine’s troops out of one in every of their final remaining footholds within the southern Russian area of Kursk.
Zelensky mentioned Ukraine’s navy had recorded a rise in Russian shelling and using drones since 10 a.m. native time Sunday (3 a.m. ET).
“In observe, both Putin doesn’t have full management over his military, or the state of affairs proves that in Russia, they don’t have any intention of creating a real transfer towards ending the battle, and are solely thinking about favorable PR protection,” he mentioned.
“This Easter proved unequivocally that Russia is the one supply of the battle and the explanation for its prolongation. We’re prepared to maneuver in the direction of peace and a full, unconditional and truthful ceasefire that may final at the very least 30 days, however Russia has not but responded to this,” Zelensky added later.
Ukraine’s 66th mechanized brigade, which is presently positioned close to Lyman within the jap Ukrainian Donetsk area, mentioned it believed Russia was utilizing the ceasefire to arrange roads for heavy navy tools within the space. The brigade mentioned {that a} blown-up piece of kit that had been blocking an essential river crossing since early April was cleared on Sunday, as Russian troops took benefit of the pause in firing.
Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian chief mentioned that whereas there have been 387 cases of shelling and 19 assaults by Russia in a single day, the Russian military was “making an attempt to create the overall impression of a ceasefire, whereas in some areas nonetheless persevering with remoted makes an attempt to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine.”
Nevertheless, by mid-afternoon, Zelensky cited a report from Ukraine’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Common Oleksandr Syrskyi, who mentioned using heavy weapons by Russian troops was rising.
“Between the start of the day and 4 p.m., a complete of 46 Russian assault actions in varied instructions and 901 assaults occurred, and of this quantity, 448 had been made with heavy weapons. Greater than 4 hundred makes use of of (drones) by Russians have already been recorded,” Zelensky mentioned.
In Russia’s Kursk area – the scene of a shock Ukrainian incursion final 12 months – Moscow’s forces performed artillery strikes and used drones, he added.
“In every single place our warriors are responding because the enemy deserves, based mostly on the particular fight state of affairs. Ukraine will proceed to behave symmetrically,” Zelensky mentioned.
Ukrainian troops deployed within the Sumy area informed CNN that Russian items didn’t cease advancing throughout the ceasefire there. Troops deployed in Pokrovsk and close to Kupiansk informed CNN that Russian forces appeared to make use of the ceasefire to construct up their presence.
For its half, Russia’s protection ministry mentioned Sunday that its forces had been “strictly observing” the ceasefire since 6 p.m. on Saturday night, and accused Ukraine of violating the pause in combating over 1,000 occasions.
The ministry mentioned that Ukrainian items had shot at Russian positions 444 occasions throughout the night time, carried out over 900 drone assaults and used 48 plane-type UAVs.
“In consequence, there have been deaths and accidents among the many civilian inhabitants and injury to civilian objects,” a press release from the ministry claimed.
Russian Overseas Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova additionally accused Ukraine of utilizing US-supplied HIMARS a number of launch rocket techniques to hold out strikes on Russia.
The Ukrainian chief has referred to as for the ceasefire to be prolonged to 30 days, according to a US-led proposal final month that Russia rejected. On Sunday morning, he reiterated that the proposal nonetheless stands, regardless of the accusations of repeated violations.
Ukraine proposed a stoppage on “any strikes utilizing long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a interval of at the very least 30 days,” Zelensky mentioned. “If Russia doesn’t conform to such a step, it will likely be proof that it intends to proceed doing solely these issues which destroy human lives and delay the battle,” he added.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces have said that they’ll adjust to orders to restrict hearth on Russia’s military, however wouldn’t present restraint if fired on first.
A commander on the bottom warned Sunday: “Yesterday we had been informed to restrict hearth towards the Russians. In the event that they don’t assault or provoke us, we don’t hearth. In the event that they transfer or hearth at us, we will reply.”
Putin mentioned the ceasefire was on humanitarian grounds however added that his troops would reply to any “provocations.”
