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21-04-2025
KYIV/ MOSCOW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of creating an “impression” of a ceasefire while still taking military actions in some places in Ukraine.
In the first six hours of the “Easter truce” as ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin-Zelensky said there had been 387 shellings and 19 assaults by Russian forces, and drones used 290 times. There are no reports of casualties.
Putin ordered his forces to “stop all military activity” in Ukraine from 18:00 Moscow time (16:00 BST) on Saturday until midnight on Sunday. Kyiv said it would also adhere.
Russia’s defence ministry insisted all Russian forces had been adhering to the truce and accused Ukraine’s army of breaking it.
Russia said Ukrainian units fired at the positions of Russian troops 444 times, carried out 900 strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), 12 shelling, 33 strikes by UAVs and seven drops of munitions. The ministry said there were dead and wounded among the civilian population. It did not give any details.
Zelensky on Sunday morning said Moscow was “trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine.”
Accusing Russia of specific military actions, Zelensky added that “everywhere our warriors are responding as the enemy deserves, based on the specific combat situation.”
Because Putin’s ceasefire was announced minutes before it was due to take effect, an immediate, complete pause was always unlikely, but the media in Ukraine reports it has been quieter on the front lines.
Before Zelensky said there had been continued attacks in some areas, at midnight on Saturday there were no reported Russian drones or fighter jets in Ukrainian skies.
That is very rare.
The only report was that a Russian ship with missile launchers had been deployed to the Black Sea.
In the southern city of Odesa, it was silent. On Friday, before Moscow’s announcement, air defences crackled throughout the night as Russian drones flew in from the direction of occupied Crimea.
Late on Saturday, hours into the truce, Zelensky had said; “if Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly, mirroring Russia’s actions.”
“Our actions are and will be symmetrical. The proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day silence remains on the table, the answer to it must come from Moscow,” he wrote on social media.
Zelensky said Ukraine would be ready to extend a truce beyond 20 April, seemingly referring to an earlier proposal from the US for a 30-day ceasefire which Ukraine had already agreed to.
It seems now both Moscow and Kyiv want to show Washington they are serious about peace. The question of whether the Kremlin accepts Zelensky’s offer to turn this truce from a 30-hour one to a 30 day one is central to any potential path to peace.
Few Ukrainians think that is remotely possible.
Putin announced the temporary truce at a meeting with his chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov.
“Based on humanitarian considerations… the Russian side announces an Easter truce. I order a stop to all military activities for this period,” Putin told Gerasimov. (Int’l News Desk)
