Easter truce breaks down
A 32‑hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine expired after both sides accused each other of widespread breaches. (thehindu.com). Ukraine's military reported thousands of violations during the pause — one tally put Russian breaches at 7,696 incidents — while other outlets cited more than a thousand drone and shelling attacks in hours after the truce began. (kyivindependent.com). The one concrete outcome was a prisoner swap in which Russia and Ukraine exchanged 175 detainees. (theguardian.com)
A 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine ended on Monday with both sides accusing the other of breaking it thousands of times. (france24.com) The truce ran from 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, to the end of Sunday, April 12, after President Vladimir Putin announced it for Orthodox Easter and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would match it if Russia stopped firing. (apnews.com) By late Sunday, Zelenskyy said Russian forces had violated the pause 7,696 times, including 115 assault operations and 6,226 first-person-view drone strikes recorded between 4 p.m. on April 11 and 10 p.m. on April 12. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine had carried out nearly 2,000 breaches and attacked border areas in Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk. (kyivindependent.com) Even with the accusations, the holiday pause briefly reduced some long-range attacks. Reuters reported a lull in air and missile strikes along parts of the roughly 1,200-kilometer front, but not a full stop in fighting. (aol.com) The ceasefire came after months of stalled diplomacy and continued battlefield pressure across eastern and southern Ukraine. Kyiv had previously called for a longer halt in attacks on civilian infrastructure, while Moscow framed the Easter pause as a humanitarian gesture. (reuters.com) The one concrete step that held was a prisoner exchange on Saturday. Russia and Ukraine each swapped 175 prisoners of war, and Zelenskyy said Ukraine also brought home seven civilians. (politico.eu) That exchange followed a pattern from earlier rounds of talks and temporary pauses: prisoner releases can move ahead even when broader ceasefire terms collapse. Both governments confirmed the swap through official channels as the truce was beginning. (usnews.com) By Monday, the fighting had returned to the familiar script of mutual blame, disputed numbers and no sign of a durable halt in combat. The Easter pause produced one exchange of detainees, but no lasting break in the war. (france24.com)
