Ukraine, Russia accuse each other of Easter truce violations

KYIV - Ukraine and Russia accused each other on April 12 of violating a truce in place for Orthodox Easter thousands of times, as the war dragged on into its fifth year.

Both sides had agreed to observe the ceasefire, which Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 9 and which Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky proposed more than a week earlier.

But as with a similar agreement in 2025, only relative calm reigned along the 1,200km frontline.

“As of 7am 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 drones,” the Ukrainian military’s general staff said in a post on Facebook.

In turn, Russia’s defence ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches of its own.

“A total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4pm Moscow time on April 12 and 8am on April 12,” the ministry said on the state-pushed MAX application.

The Russian ministry claimed Kyiv had fired 258 times using artillery or tanks, carried out 1,329 FPV drone strikes, and dropped “various types of munitions” on 375 occasions, notably via drones.

Moscow also accused the Ukrainian military of launching “three nighttime attacks” against Russian positions and also “four attempts to advance” along the front line, while claiming to have thwarted each.

Mr Zelensky had called for a longer ceasefire in his evening address on April 11, saying Ukraine had put the proposal to Russia.

But in comments aired on April 12, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected any extension unless the Ukrainian leader accepted Russia’s “well-known” terms.

“Until Zelensky musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires,” Mr Peskov added, referring to the war in Ukraine.

Holiday joy

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.

Ukraine has had to deal with near-nightly barrages of hundreds of Russian drones, prompting retaliation from Kyiv.

In north-eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Lieutenant-Colonel Vasyl Kobziak told AFP on the morning of April 12 that things were “rather calm” in his sector.

While the 32-year-old officer said the truce had not been “fully” observed, the lull had allowed his soldiers of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade to attend an Easter Sunday mass outside in the freezing forest chill.

“Our comrades have the chance, as you can see, to have their Easter baskets blessed and to feel the warmth and joy of this holiday,” he told AFP, referring to the religious tradition of priests blessing food and eggs.

The truce had been due to last for 32 hours, from 4pm on April 11 until the end of the day on April 12, according to the Kremlin.

In Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Khinshtein also accused Kyiv of breaking the ceasefire by attacking a gas station in the town of Lgov with a drone, injuring three people, including a baby.

Residents in Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia were sceptical about Russia’s intentions.

“I think they’re using this as a cover to reconvene,” said 28-year-old manager Vladyslav.

“If we’re going to declare a ceasefire, it shouldn’t be for just one day,” said 58-year-old economist Maryna.

Recent months have seen several rounds of US-brokered negotiations fail to bring the warring parties closer to an agreement to stop the fighting, triggered by Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

The process has stalled further since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, with Washington’s attention having shifted towards Iran.

But even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over the issue of territory.

Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines.

But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants the whole of the Donetsk region despite it being partly controlled by Ukraine – a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable.

The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Russia has paid a high price in manpower for its relatively small territorial gains.

Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Moscow occupies just over 19 per cent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict. AFP