Easter ceasefire unravels
An Orthodox Easter ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine quickly faltered, with Ukrainian forces reporting more than 2,000 violations along the front and both sides trading accusations. (bbc.com) Ukrainian officials said Russian drone strikes continued after the truce began, and international reporting captured immediate doubts about the ceasefire’s credibility. (pbs.org) Despite the breakdown in calm, the sides did carry out a prisoner exchange of 175 fighters each that was mediated by the United Arab Emirates. (politico.eu)
A 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine began on Saturday and was already collapsing by Sunday morning. (reuters.com) Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces committed 2,299 violations, including 1,319 shelling attacks and 1,013 uses of drones, after the truce took effect at 6 p.m. Moscow time on April 11. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine had carried out 1,971 violations by 8 a.m. Moscow time on April 12. (bbc.com) President Vladimir Putin announced the pause on April 11, ordering Russian forces to halt combat from 6 p.m. Saturday until midnight after Easter Sunday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would mirror a genuine ceasefire but accused Moscow within hours of continuing attacks. (cbsnews.com) The truce was one of the few publicly declared battlefield pauses in a war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Even short holiday ceasefires have repeatedly broken down, with both sides using the same pattern of announcing restraint and then reporting incoming fire. (apnews.com) The timing also landed in the middle of stalled diplomacy. Reuters reported that United States-led efforts to push the two sides toward a broader settlement had made little visible progress before the Easter announcement. (reuters.com) Ukrainian officials said the first hours of the ceasefire still included Russian drone strikes, especially on front-line positions. A Ukrainian artillery brigade officer told The Associated Press that “the ceasefire is not being observed by the Russian side.” (pbs.org) Moscow gave a different account, saying there were no missile, guided-bomb or Shahed drone strikes during the truce period and accusing Kyiv of continued shelling and attacks. French and Russian state-backed reporting both cited the Russian military’s claim that Ukrainian forces were responsible for nearly 2,000 breaches. (france24.com) One concrete exchange did go ahead: Russia and Ukraine swapped 175 prisoners of war each on April 11, in a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Zelenskyy said Ukraine also brought back seven civilians as part of the return. (politico.eu) That left the Easter pause looking less like a halt in the war than a brief opening for one humanitarian deal. By Sunday, the front was back to dueling counts of shelling, drones and broken promises. (reuters.com)
