Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of thousands of violations of a ceasefire supposed to take place on Orthodox Easter Sunday.
The pause in fighting, in place for 32 hours from Saturday afternoon until Sunday, was agreed to by the Kremlin on Thursday after requests from Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, a week earlier.
But as with a similar agreement last year, only relative calm reigned along the 745-mile front line, according to reports from both sides of the conflict.
The Ukrainian military’s general staff wrote in a post on social media: “As of 7:00 am on 12 April, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded. Specifically: 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, 747 strikes by attack drones… and 1,045 strikes by FPV (first-person view) drones.”
One of these drone attacks was against an ambulance in the Sumy region, with three medical workers injured, according to Oleh Hryhorov, the head of the regional military administration.
Mr Hryhorov said: “The enemy continues to cynically target civilian infrastructure. Be as careful as possible.”
Parishioners attended an Orthodox Easter service at a cathedral amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, a Russian-controlled city of Ukraine – Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
An independent Ukrainian monitoring organisation said a rocket struck Tyahynska Hromada in Kherson oblast within half an hour of the ceasefire coming into effect on Saturday.
But in a sign that the truce had some effect, the Ukrainian army said it had recorded no long-range Shahed drone attacks, guided aerial bombings or missile strikes.
On Sunday, Russia said it would not extend the truce unless Mr Zelensky accepts its terms.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said: “Sustainable peace can come when we secure our interests and achieve the goals we set from the very start. This can be done literally today. But Zelensky must accept these well-known solutions.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches, telling the TASS news agency that “a total of 1,971 ceasefire violations were recorded by units of the Ukrainian armed forces” between 4pm and 8pm local time.
Mr Zelensky had previously stated that the Ukrainian military would “mirror Russian strikes and respond immediately” to any attacks. He said before the ceasefire: “The absence of any Russian strikes… will mean no response from our side.”
Volodymyr Zelensky had previously said the Ukrainian military would ‘mirror Russian strikes and respond immediately’ – AFP
Ukraine was also accused of breaking the ceasefire in Russia’s Kursk region by firing a drone at a petrol station in the town of Lgov, injuring three, including a baby.
In his nightly address on Saturday, Mr Zelensky made no mention of the violations and said: “It would be right for the ceasefire to continue beyond this.
“We have made this proposal to Russia and if Russia once again chooses war instead of peace, it will show the world, and particularly the United States, who wants what.”
Attempts for a US-brokered peace agreement to the conflict have largely stalled, particularly with Washington’s attention directed to Iran.
Vladimir Putin’s war has cost thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes – Alexander Zemlianichenko/Reuters
On Saturday, a glimmer of hope came in the form of a prisoner exchange, where each side handed over 175 servicemen and seven civilians.
Most of the Ukrainian servicemen had reportedly been in captivity since 2022.
Andrii Yusov, the spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said: “Ukraine was working on the return of a significantly larger number of our defenders ahead of Easter. Sadly, the enemy rejected these humanitarian initiatives.”
Even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow because of differences over the issue of territory.
Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines, but Russia has rejected this, saying it wanted the whole of the Donetsk region despite it being partly controlled by Ukraine – a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable.
Mr Peskov said on Sunday that Russian troops still needed to ⁠take control of 17 to 18 per cent ⁠of Ukraine’s disputed Donetsk ​region, state news agency TASS reported.
Vladimir Putin’s war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe’s deadliest conflict since the Second World War.
Russia has paid a high price in manpower for its relatively small territorial gains.
Kyiv recently managed to push back in the south-east and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.
Moscow occupies more than 19 per cent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.