Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Early on Monday, Russia fired missiles and drones at Ukraine, disrupting the peace in Kyiv and the eastern regions shortly after the cessation of the one-day Easter ceasefire announced by President Vladimir Putin.
Regional Ukrainian officials reported no immediate injuries or significant damages from the attacks. Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused one another of thousands of assaults that breached the truce, which the Kremlin indicated on Sunday would not be prolonged.
How is Ukraine responding to Russia’s resumed strikes?
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia fired 96 drones and three missiles in overnight strikes aimed at Ukraine, inflicting damage in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions. Air defense units intercepted 42 Russian drones, while an additional 47 drones were diverted by electronic warfare tactics.
Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy said early on Monday that his forces were ordered to continue to mirror the Russian army’s actions.
“The nature of Ukraine’s actions will remain symmetrical: ceasefire will be met with ceasefire, and Russian strikes will be met with our own in defense. Actions always speak louder than words,”
He said.
Can a 30-day truce gain international support?
The US expressed support for extending the truce, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy emphasized Ukraine’s readiness to halt strikes for 30 days during the conflict. Reports indicate that on Saturday, Putin ordered a suspension of all military operations along the front line until midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT) on Sunday; however, he did not extend this order. “There were no other commands,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s TASS state news agency when questioned about the possibility of prolonging the ceasefire.
Eastern Ukraine has faced air raid alerts since shortly after midnight on Monday, which have not been lifted. According to the Ukrainian air force, Kyiv and the central regions were on alert for approximately an hour, beginning at 0140 GMT.
Did either side truly observe the Easter ceasefire?
While the Ukrainian capital reported no strikes, officials in Mykolaiv stated that Russian missiles had targeted the port city. No immediate damage reports emerged. Additionally, Russia’s Voronezh region, bordering Ukraine, experienced two hours of air raid alerts overnight, and parts of the Kursk and Belgorod regions faced a brief missile threat, according to regional officials.
Though Ukraine experienced no air raid alerts on Sunday, Ukrainian forces reported almost 3,000 violations of Russia’s ceasefire, with the most intense attacks and shelling occurring along the Pokrovsk section of the frontline, as stated by Zelenskiy earlier on Monday.
Russia’s defense ministry stated on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had fired upon Russian positions 444 times and reported counting more than 900 Ukrainian drone attacks, also mentioning that there were deaths and injuries among the civilian population.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday about reaching a lasting peace deal, stating that “hopefully” an agreement could be made “this week” to resolve the conflict. On Friday, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the U.S. would abandon peace negotiations if there is no clear progress soon.
