Despite both sides originally settling on a brief truce, hopes for a brief cease in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine over the Easter weekend vanished fast. While Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered a stop of military activity along the front lines until midnight Sunday, Moscow time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked for a thirty-day ceasefire to celebrate the holiday. There was no additional ceasefire extension.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said no further orders from Moscow meant the truce was effectively over. Although Sunday came and went free of any national air raid alerts in Ukraine, strikes restarted soon after midnight as missile and drone warnings were issued for eastern and southeastern regions.
Over the weekend, President Zelenskyy stated that almost 3,000 breaches of the officially announced Russian ceasefire were observed by Ukrainian troops. He said Kyiv’s military had been directed to replicate Russia’s level of aggression: to be hushed in case Russia kept firing, but to respond in case of assault. He told of the most intense shelling around the disputed eastern settlement of Pokrovsk, with many strikes on this front line.
Zelenskyy carefully noted by late Sunday that the absence of air alerts could indicate a “format of ceasefire that has been obtained,” so he once more urged Russia to stop all drone and missile attacks on civilian installations for at least a month. Otherwise, he said it would be evident that Moscow was not interested in de-escalating.
The Ukrainian president stood in front of Kyiv’s famous Saint Sophia Cathedral in a different Easter sermon dressed in a customary embroidered shirt. He advised the people not to despair. He stated, “We know what we are protecting.” “We know the cause of our fight.”
For its part, Russia dismissed Ukraine’s allegations and stated that it was Ukraine that had flouted the ceasefire in reference to over 1,000 violations. The Russian Defense Ministry claims Ukrainian troops shot at Russian targets more than 400 times and launched over 900 drone strikes, including ones in Crimea and along the borders in areas such as Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod. They also said there were civil losses and damage to infrastructure.
Independently confirming these field accounts proves challenging.
The more general inability to honor even a brief truce during a religious holiday emphasizes the tenuous nature of diplomatic initiatives to stop the fighting. Furthermore, it raises questions about U.S. attempts on the part of President Donald Trump to negotiate a more durable peace. Trump remained nevertheless optimistic over the weekend, hoping that both sides could negotiate a deal “this week.”
On Friday, however, Trump and State Secretary Marco Rubio cautioned that if there was no clear progress soon, the United States would withdraw from peace initiatives. Russia had earlier this year balked at Ukraine’s acceptance of Trump’s 30-day truce offer, pointing to outstanding concerns about checking compliance. Though each continues to accuse the other of breaking those agreements, both Kyiv and Moscow had also agreed on paper— at least regarding paper—to spare shipping areas and energy infrastructure.
Trump has depicted the end of hostilities as a door to economic recovery. He advised on Sunday that the U.S. offers possibilities for “BIG BUSINESS” for both nations. Should peace come true. Reportedly in the last stages of a minerals treaty are American and Ukrainian authorities, and Washington is said to be considering means of easing sanctions on Russia’s energy sector should Moscow start to cease the conflict.
Some Ukrainian troops on the front line were much more dubious in their perspective, even if some military personnel stated decreased front-line activity. Open skepticism was apparent among soldiers of Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade. Twenty-four-year-old Dmytro, one soldier, said there was no indication of a ceasefire. Another 22-year-old, Serhii, labeled the truce a mirage—a public relations stunt supposed to simulate kindness while the actual conditions on the front line stayed unchanged.
He said, “It is a blatant lie. Just as it always has been.”
