Ukrainian President Zelenskyy claims Russian attacks are ongoing despite Putin's Easter truce

Zelenskyy wrote on X: "Despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, an increase in Russian shelling and the use of kamikaze drones has been observed since 10:00 a.m. – with FPV drone usage alone doubling by the Russian army. The most active Russian operations this morning have been carried out in the Pokrovsk and Siversk directions. In these and several other areas of the frontline, Russia continues to use heavy weaponry."

"Between midnight and noon today, Russian forces have already carried out 26 assaults," he said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is documenting every Russian violation of its self-declared commitment to a full ceasefire for the Easter period and are prepared to provide the necessary information to our partners.

"In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favorable PR coverage. It’s a good thing, at least, that there were no air raid sirens," the President said.

Easter Truce

Putin on Saturday declared a temporary truce in the conflict in Ukraine, timed to coincide with Orthodox Easter, and called on Kyiv to observe the same, according to Reuters.

“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said in televised comments during a discussion with Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov.

Russia is expected to pause its military operations from 18:00 local time (16:00 BST) today until midnight on 21 April (22:00 BST).

The Russian Ministry of Defence later confirmed the decision, saying all operations would cease during that window and describing the move as “guided by humanitarian considerations.”

“At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” the ministry said in a translated statement.

Putin, in a video circulating online, also said that Russian troops would remain ready to respond if there were any provocations or violations during the truce.