Easter truce breaks with heavy violations
The brief Orthodox Easter ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine expired with both sides accusing the other of large numbers of breaches, and Ukrainian officials reported thousands of violations as the truce ended. (kyivindependent.com) Observers noted some temporary reductions in long‑range drone, missile and guided‑bomb use during parts of the pause, but front‑line scepticism remained. (bbc.com) Still, the two sides used the lull for limited humanitarian cooperation and exchanged 175 prisoners during the truce period. (theguardian.com)
Russia’s 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire ended on Monday after Ukraine and Russia accused each other of thousands of violations along the front. (france24.com) Ukraine’s military said that by 10 p.m. on Sunday, April 12, it had logged 7,696 Russian violations. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine committed 1,971 breaches between Saturday evening and Sunday morning. (france24.com) Earlier in the pause, Ukraine’s General Staff reported 2,299 Russian violations in the first 15 hours, including 28 assault operations, 479 shelling incidents, 747 kamikaze-drone attacks and 1,045 first-person-view drone strikes. Ukrainian officials said they recorded no missile strikes, guided aerial bombs or Shahed-type long-range drones during that period. (kyivindependent.com) The truce ran from 4 p.m. local time on Saturday, April 11, through the end of Sunday, April 12. Vladimir Putin ordered it on April 9, and Volodymyr Zelensky had publicly called for a similar Easter pause more than a week earlier. (france24.com) That left both governments claiming they had accepted a holiday ceasefire while blaming the other side for breaking it. The pattern matched a similar Easter arrangement in 2025, when fighting also eased only partially rather than stopping across the whole line. (france24.com) The front in this war now stretches about 1,200 kilometers, and the Easter pause showed the difference between long-range strikes and close-range combat. Air-raid pressure appeared to drop in some areas even as artillery, assault actions and short-range drone attacks continued near the front. (france24.com) (kyivindependent.com) The brief lull still produced one concrete humanitarian step. Ukraine and Russia exchanged 175 prisoners of war each on Saturday, and Zelensky said Ukraine also brought home seven civilians in the swap, which Reuters reported was mediated by the United Arab Emirates. (usnews.com) Moscow said on Sunday it would not extend the truce. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the ceasefire would end unless Zelensky accepted Russia’s “well-known” terms, and fighting resumed after the Easter deadline passed. (france24.com)
