A priest blesses traditional cakes and eggs during the Orthodox Easter service in Donetsk, Russia-controlled Ukraine on April 12, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Photo / AFP
A priest blesses traditional cakes and eggs during the Orthodox Easter service in Donetsk, Russia-controlled Ukraine on April 12, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Photo / AFP
A truce between Russia and Ukraine to mark the Orthodox Easter has formally expired, both sides having accused each other of thousands of violations, despite a lull in Russian air raids.
The truce lasted 32 hours, from 4pm (local time) on Saturday until the end of Sunday.
Both sides hadagreed to observe the ceasefire, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday (local time) and which Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed more than a week earlier.
But as with a similar agreement last year, only relative calm reigned along the 1200km front line.
As of 10pm (local time) on Sunday, “7696 violations by the enemy have been recorded”, the Ukrainian army said on Facebook.
Russia had adhered to the ceasefire to some extent, while continuing “combat operations in certain sectors, including the use of FPV drones and kamikaze drones”, it added.
Russia’s Defence Ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2000 breaches of the truce.
“A total of 1971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4pm Moscow time on April 12 and 8am on April 12,” the ministry said on the state-pushed Max messenger service.
Kyiv had fired 258 times using artillery or tanks, carried out 1329 FPV drone strikes, and dropped “various types of munitions” on 375 occasions, notably via drones, Russia said.
Moscow also accused the Ukrainian military of launching “three night-time attacks” against Russian positions and also “four attempts to advance” along the front line, adding that it had thwarted each one.
Zelenskyy had called for a longer ceasefire in his evening address on Saturday (local time), saying Ukraine had put the proposal to Russia.
But in comments aired the next day, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected any extension unless the Ukrainian leader accepted Russia’s “well-known” terms.
“Until Zelenskyy musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires,” Peskov added, referring to the war in Ukraine.
In a sign that the truce had some effect, the Ukrainian Army said it had recorded no long-range Shahed drone attacks, guided aerial bombings or missile strikes.
Ukraine has had to deal with barrages of hundreds of Russian drones on a near-nightly basis, prompting retaliation from Kyiv.
In northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Lieutenant Colonel Vasyl Kobziak told AFP that things were “rather calm” in his sector.
While the 32-year-old officer said the truce had not been “fully” observed, the lull had allowed his soldiers of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade to attend an Easter Sunday mass outside in the freezing forest chill.
A believer visits a church during the Orthodox Easter celebrations in Donetsk, Russia-controlled Ukraine on April 12, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Photo / AFP
“Our comrades have the chance, as you can see, to have their Easter baskets blessed and to feel the warmth and joy of this holiday,” he told AFP, referring to the religious tradition of priests blessing food and eggs.
In Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Khinshtein also accused Kyiv of breaking the ceasefire by attacking a gas station in the town of Lgov with a drone, injuring three people, including a baby.
Residents in Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia were sceptical about Russia’s intentions.
“I think they’re using this as a cover to reconvene,” 28-year-old manager Vladyslav (no surname given) said.
“If we’re going to declare a ceasefire, it shouldn’t be for just one day,” 58-year-old economist Maryna (no surname given) said.
Frontline freeze
Recent months have seen several rounds of US-brokered negotiations fail to bring the warring parties closer to an agreement to stop the fighting, triggered by Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
The process has stalled further since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, with Washington’s attention having shifted towards Iran.
But even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, because of differences over the issue of territory.
Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines.
But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants the whole of the Donetsk region despite it being partly controlled by Ukraine – a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable.
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
