By Guy Faulconbridge and Pavel Polityuk for Reuters
Orthodox worshippers attend an Easter service in Saint Michael's Golden-domes Cathedral in Kyiv. Photo: AFP/ Sergei Supinsky
- The Kremlin says there is no order from Putin to extend an Easter ceasefire
- Zelensky says Russian activity has picked up, and Russia broke the ceasefire nearly 3000 times
- Russia says Ukraine broke the Easter ceasefire more than 1000 times
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for breaking a one-day Easter ceasefire declared by President Vladimir Putin, with both sides accusing the other of attacks and the Kremlin saying there is no order for a ceasefire extension.
Putin, who sent thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, ordered his forces to stop all military activity along the front line in the three-year-old war until midnight Moscow time on Sunday.
TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying there was no order from Putin to extend the ceasefire.
"There were no other commands," Peskov was quoted as saying, when asked if it could be prolonged.
In Washington, the State Department said it would welcome an extension, but the apparent failure to observe even an Easter ceasefire showed how hard it would be for US President Donald Trump to clinch a lasting peace deal. The president still struck an optimistic note Sunday, saying "hopefully" the two sides would make a deal "this week" to end the conflict.
On Friday, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would walk away from peace efforts, unless there were clear signs of progress soon.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow's actions in coming days "will reveal Russia's true attitude toward US peace efforts" and a proposed 30-day ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was pretending to observe the Easter ceasefire, but Ukraine's forces reported nearly 3000 violations of Russia's own Easter ceasefire vow.
"Either Putin does not have full control over his army or the situation proves that, in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favourable PR coverage," Zelensky posted.
"However, there were no air raid alerts on Sunday. Hence, this is a format of ceasefire that has been achieved and that is the easiest to extend," he said, proposing that Russia abandon drone and missile strikes on civilian targets for at least 30 days.
If Russia did not agree, it would be proof that it intended to continue doing only those things that destroyed human lives and prolonged the war, Zelensky added.
Russia's Defence Ministry said Ukraine had broken the ceasefire more than 1000 times, damaging infrastructure and causing civilian deaths.
The ministry said Ukrainian forces had shot at Russian positions 444 times and it had counted more than 900 Ukrainian drone attacks, including on Crimea, and the Russian border areas of the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions.
"As a result, there are deaths and injuries among the civilian population, as well as damage to civilian facilities," the ministry said.
Ukraine's military said earlier that activity on the front line had decreased. Some Russian military bloggers also said frontline activity had declined substantially.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the battlefield reports.
Trump's peace push
Last month, after Ukraine accepted Trump's proposal for a 30-day truce, Putin said crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out. Both Moscow and Kyiv agreed to a moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea, which each accused the other of breaking.
Zelensky reiterated that Kyiv was willing to extend the ceasefire for 30 days, but said that, if Russia kept fighting on Sunday, so would Ukraine.
"The Ukrainian army is acting - and will continue to act - in a fully symmetrical manner," he wrote on X.
Trump has pitched any end to the fighting as a precursor to both countries doing "BIG BUSINESS" with the United States, saying such deals would earn both nations "a fortune".
Washington and Kyiv are currently negotiating a minerals deal expected to be finalised in the next week, Ukrainian officials said, while American officials were looking at ways to ease sanctions on Russia's energy sector if Moscow agrees to end the war, Reuters has previously reported.
Little such optimism emerged from Ukrainian soldiers, who spoke to Reuters on Sunday.
"There is no indication of a ceasefire," said Dmytro, 24, from 93rd Kholodnyi Yar separate mechanised brigade.
Serhii, 22, a soldier from the same brigade, said the ceasefire "was announced only to show to the world as if they are making some steps, concessions for us, but in reality, as we can see at the front line, nothing has changed".
"I think it is blatant lie, as it always was."
Putin told his top general, Valery Gerasimov, to be ready to respond "in full", if Kyiv broke the truce.
Announcing the ceasefire before heading to an Orthodox Easter service, Putin said the truce would show whether or not Ukraine was ready or able to implement peace.
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's Cathedral in Kyiv.
- Reuters
