Ukraine accuses Russia of fresh attacks after Putin declares ceasefire

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned on Sunday that Russia had launched recent assaults regardless of Vladimir Putin ordering his military to droop fight operations in Ukraine over the Easter vacation.

Putin declared a unilateral 30-hour “Easter ceasefire” for “humanitarian causes” on Saturday in a gathering with Valery Gerasimov, his prime navy officer, in response to footage printed by the Kremlin. The ceasefire formally started at 6pm Moscow time on Saturday and was on account of finish at midnight on Sunday.

On Sunday Zelenskyy mentioned Ukraine’s navy had reported Russian assaults alongside elements of the entrance line, together with fight engagements and drone strikes.

Shelling and drone assaults had elevated since 10am on Sunday — with using first-person view drones “doubling” — whereas Russian forces had launched 26 assaults throughout the frontline since midnight, Zelenskyy mentioned, citing a report from the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces Oleksandr Syrsky.

“In apply, both Putin doesn’t have full management over his military, or the state of affairs proves that in Russia, they don’t have any intention of constructing a real transfer in the direction of ending the warfare,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

Russia in flip accused Ukraine of breaching the Moscow-announced ceasefire, with the defence ministry on Sunday saying Ukraine’s armed fores had been “firing on Russian positions 444 instances and finishing up 900 UAV strikes” after the unilateral ceasefire was declared.

Putin’s declaration of a halt got here a day after US President Donald Trump threatened to finish peacemaking efforts in Ukraine if fast progress was not made, and was the second time Putin has declared a full suspension of hostilities since ordering the invasion of Ukraine three years in the past.

Putin introduced an identical truce to mark the Orthodox Christmas in January 2023, which Ukraine claimed was a ploy to cease its advances towards Russian forces.

Whereas Kyiv has agreed to Trump’s proposal of a 30-day ceasefire, Putin has refused to again away from his maximalist calls for for ending the warfare.

Zelenskyy mentioned Ukraine’s proposal to implement and lengthen the ceasefire for 30 days after midnight tonight remained on the desk.

He mentioned Ukraine “will act in accordance with the precise state of affairs on the bottom”.

Ukraine’s troops “are responding because the enemy deserves, primarily based on the precise fight state of affairs. Ukraine will proceed to behave symmetrically”, Zelenskyy wrote.

Each side have accused one another of repeatedly violating a moratorium on power strikes brokered by the US in March. Russia additionally mentioned it will not signal as much as an identical settlement on maritime safety within the Black Sea until quite a lot of western sanctions had been repealed.

Putin mentioned Russia anticipated Ukraine to “observe our instance” however instructed Gerasimov he needed his forces to be “ready to repel any ceasefire violations, provocations and aggressive actions by the enemy”.

He thanked Trump, Chinese language chief Xi Jinping and Brics nations for his or her efforts to discover a settlement to the warfare in Ukraine and mentioned the ceasefire would present whether or not Kyiv was severe about “collaborating in peace negotiations aimed toward resolving the preliminary causes for the Ukrainian disaster”.

Advisable

Putin’s said circumstances for ending the warfare embrace Ukraine surrendering 4 partially occupied south-eastern areas to Russia and, in impact, ceasing to exist as an impartial state.

Russia has additionally demanded that Nato roll again virtually all of its deployments east of the Berlin Wall as a part of a deal, which might rewrite the post-cold warfare safety order.

Shortly earlier than Putin’s ceasefire announcement, Russia and Ukraine carried out one of many largest exchanges of prisoners of warfare because the begin of Moscow’s all-out invasion in February 2022. Zelenskyy mentioned that 277 Ukrainian troops had been returned following a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.

He added that 4,552 Ukrainian troopers had been free of Russian captivity because the begin of the invasion.