CNN
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Ukraine has accused Russia of breaching the Easter truce that was introduced with out prior warning by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Putin of solely being enthusiastic about PR.
In a shock transfer on Saturday, Putin stated he had ordered his forces to “cease all army exercise” from 6 p.m. Moscow time that day (11 a.m. ET) till midnight Sunday into Monday (5 p.m. Sunday ET).
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated Sunday that Putin has not given a command to increase the ceasefire past the beforehand introduced timeframe, in line with the Russian state information company TASS.
Ukrainian leaders stated that whereas there was some slowdown in preventing in a single day, the variety of assaults performed by Russia started to rise once more as Sunday wore on. In the meantime, the Russian Ministry of Protection accused Ukraine of breaching the ceasefire.
Putin’s announcement was met with instant skepticism from Ukraine, though Kyiv agreed to the 30-hour truce; there have been no pauses in preventing since Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Questions have been raised over Putin’s motives in calling the transient halt to hostilities, which got here simply after the Trump administration threatened to desert peace efforts with out tangible indicators of progress. Russia has beforehand rejected a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that was agreed to by Ukraine.
Putin’s truce got here simply hours after the Russian army introduced that it had pushed Ukraine’s troops out of considered one of their final remaining footholds within the southern Russian area of Kursk.
Zelensky stated Ukraine’s army had recorded a rise in Russian shelling and the usage of drones since 10 a.m. native time Sunday (3 a.m. ET).
“In follow, 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 towards ending the warfare, and are solely enthusiastic about favorable PR protection,” he stated.
“This Easter proved unequivocally that Russia is the one supply of the warfare and the explanation for its prolongation. We’re prepared to maneuver in direction of peace and a full, unconditional and honest ceasefire that may final at the very least 30 days, however Russia has not but responded to this,” Zelensky added later.
Ukraine’s 66th mechanized brigade, which is at the moment positioned close to Lyman within the jap Ukrainian Donetsk area, stated it believed Russia was utilizing the ceasefire to arrange roads for heavy army tools within the space. The brigade stated {that a} blown-up piece of apparatus that had been blocking an necessary river crossing since early April was cleared on Sunday, as Russian troops took benefit of the pause in firing.
Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian chief stated that whereas there have been 387 cases of shelling and 19 assaults by Russia in a single day, the Russian military was “trying to create the final impression of a ceasefire, whereas in some areas nonetheless persevering with remoted makes an attempt to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine.”
Nevertheless, by mid-afternoon, Zelensky cited a report from Ukraine’s Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Common Oleksandr Syrskyi, who stated the usage of heavy weapons by Russian troops was growing.
“Between the start of the day and 4 p.m., a complete of 46 Russian assault actions in varied instructions and 901 assaults passed off, and of this quantity, 448 have been made with heavy weapons. Greater than 4 hundred makes use of of (drones) by Russians have already been recorded,” Zelensky stated.
In Russia’s Kursk area – the scene of a shock Ukrainian incursion final yr – Moscow’s forces performed artillery strikes and used drones, he added.
“All over the place our warriors are responding because the enemy deserves, based mostly on the precise fight state of affairs. Ukraine will proceed to behave symmetrically,” Zelensky stated.
For its half, Russia’s protection ministry stated Sunday that its forces had been “strictly observing” the ceasefire since 6 p.m. on Saturday night, and accused Ukraine of violating the pause in preventing over 1,000 occasions.
The ministry stated that Ukrainian items had shot at Russian positions 444 occasions through the evening, carried out over 900 drone assaults and used 48 plane-type UAVs.
“Consequently, there have been deaths and accidents among the many civilian inhabitants and injury to civilian objects,” an announcement from the ministry claimed.
The Ukrainian chief has known as for the ceasefire to be prolonged to 30 days, consistent with a US-led proposal final month that Russia rejected. On Sunday morning, he reiterated that the proposal nonetheless stands, regardless of the accusations of repeated violations.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces have acknowledged that they may adjust to orders to restrict fireplace on Russia’s military, however wouldn’t present restraint if fired on first.
A commander on the bottom warned Sunday: “Yesterday we have been instructed to restrict fireplace in opposition to the Russians. In the event that they don’t assault or provoke us, we don’t fireplace. In the event that they transfer or fireplace at us, we are able to reply.”
Putin stated the ceasefire was on humanitarian grounds however added that his troops would reply to any “provocations.”
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