Russia and Ukraine Exchange Accusations of Thousands of Easter Ceasefire Violations

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of thousands of violations of a 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire within hours of the truce taking effect, with both sides reporting casualties and Moscow refusing to extend the pause in fighting. Ukraine's General Staff recorded by Russian forces as of 7 a.m. Sunday, including 28 assault actions, 479 artillery shellings, 747 attack drone strikes, and 1,045 FPV drone strikes. Russia's Defense Ministry, in turn, accused Ukrainian forces of 1,971 ceasefire violations between 4 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday, including 258 artillery or tank firings, 1,329 FPV drone strikes, and 375 incidents involving munitions dropped from drones. Reuters stated it could not independently verify reports of military activity from either side.

Kremlin rules out extension, demands Kyiv accept its terms The Kremlin ruled out any extension of the truce, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that fighting would resume once the ceasefire expired unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted Moscow's conditions. Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced the temporary truce on April 9, and Zelenskyy — whose own previous ceasefire proposals had been rejected by Moscow — agreed to it. Zelenskyy had said the day before that it would be "correct" to extend the ceasefire and indicated he had made that proposal to Moscow. Peskov, speaking in an interview on Russian public television, conditioned any sustainable peace on Russia securing what he described as its interests and goals set from the start of the conflict. „Sustainable peace can come when we secure our interests and achieve the goals we set from the very start. This can be done literally today. But Zelenskyy must accept these well-known solutions.” — Dmitry Peskov via Al Jazeera Online Peskov added that Russian troops still needed to take control of the remaining 17 to 18 percent of Ukraine's Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, according to the TASS state news agency. Moscow has long rejected the idea of an extended ceasefire, arguing it would allow Ukrainian forces to regroup and strengthen their positions.

Casualties reported on both sides despite the truce Despite the ceasefire, both sides reported civilian and military casualties. In Russia's Belgorod region, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported two people killed by Ukrainian shelling. Russia also said a child was among civilians injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kursk region. In Ukraine, the State Emergencies Service reported two civilians wounded on Sunday by a Russian drone attack in the Kharkiv region. In a notable sign of reduced — though not absent — military activity, Ukraine's General Staff emphasized that it recorded no Russian attacks using long-range Shahed-type drones, guided aerial bombs, or ballistic missiles during the truce period, all of which have featured in near-nightly Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory. In northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Lieutenant Colonel Vasyl Kobziak told AFP that conditions were "rather calm" in his sector, though he acknowledged the truce had not been "fully" observed. The relative lull allowed soldiers of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade to attend an Easter Sunday mass outdoors.

The Russia-Ukraine war entered its fifth year following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. A similar Orthodox Easter ceasefire was observed in 2025, with both sides also accusing each other of violations during that truce. The front line stretches approximately 1,200 kilometers across eastern and southern Ukraine. Peace talks described as roughly 90 percent complete were held in Florida in December 2025 and Paris in January 2026, with a 35-country coalition pledging security guarantees to Ukraine, though no formal ceasefire agreement has been reached as of April 2026.

Both leaders marked Easter publicly while war continued Both heads of state marked the Orthodox Easter holiday publicly while the ceasefire unraveled around them. In Kyiv, Zelenskyy attended a service at St. Sophia Cathedral, where he praised Ukraine for enduring more than four years of Russian invasion. „We place our trust not only in heavenly powers, but also in our security and defense forces.” — Volodymyr Zelenskyy via Deutsche Welle In Moscow, Putin attended a service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where he praised the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in supporting what he called the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Holding a candle, Putin said he had ordered the temporary ceasefire so that Orthodox Christians in both countries could celebrate Easter. The mutual accusations of violations — with Ukraine citing 2,299 breaches and Russia citing 1,971 — mirrored the pattern of a similar truce the previous year, when only relative calm prevailed along the front line. With the ceasefire set to expire at midnight Sunday local time and no extension agreed, full-scale hostilities were expected to resume.