Closing summary
Ukraine’s military reported Russian drone attacks on several regions overnight, hours after the 30 hour “Easter ceasefire” declared by Vladimir Putin came to an end.
Ukraine’s air force said this morning that Russia launched 96 drones and three missiles in overnight attacks targeting Ukraine, causing damage in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions.
Air raid alerts were reportedly activated in Kyiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia.
The Russian military subsequently confirmed that its forces had resumed strikes on Ukraine after the surprise “Easter truce”, which Putin called on Saturday for “humanitarian reasons”. “With the end of the ceasefire, the armed forces of the Russian federation continued to conduct the special military operation,” the Russian military said.
The Russian defence ministry claimed the country’s military “strictly observed the ceasefire and remained at the previously occupied lines and positions”.
Both Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of violating the ceasefire, with drone strikes and shelling. Ukrainian forces reported nearly 3,000 violations of Russia’s ceasefire with the heaviest attacks and shelling seen along the Pokrovsk part of the frontline, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday.
Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire over the weekend killed three people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a regional official said on Monday.
The Kremlin said the Trump administration signalling that it is ruling out Nato membership for Ukraine gave Moscow a sense of “satisfaction”.
Thanks for following along today. We are now closing this blog. You can read all our Ukraine coverage here.
Britain will significantly increase its ability to produce explosives so it no longer has to depend on the US and France for ammunition, the Times has reported. Here is some of the outlet’s story:
Shipping containers will be erected at sites across the UK to produce RDX explosives, used in 155mm rounds for British Army guns and other weapons.
BAE Systems, the UK defence company, is also looking to build three new sites to add “resilience” to the project, in case one site comes under attack…
John Healey, the defence secretary, called the defence industry “the foundation of our ability to fight and win on the battlefield”.
“Strengthening homegrown artillery production is an important step in learning the lessons from Ukraine, boosting our industrial resilience and making defence an engine for growth,” he said.
