A ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine to mark the Orthodox Easter formally expired on Monday, with both sides having accused each other of thousands of violations, despite a lull in Russian air raids. The truce lasted 32 hours, from 4pm (1300 GMT) on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday. Both sides had agreed to observe the ceasefire, which the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ordered on Thursday and which his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, proposed more than a week earlier. But as with a similar agreement last year, only relative calm reigned along the 1,200km (745-mile) frontline.
The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Sunday it had recorded 2,299 ceasefire violations by 7am, including assaults, shelling and small drone launches. It said in the statement that the use of long-range drones, missiles or guided bombs had not been reported. A Ukrainian military officer told the Associated Press on Saturday that Russian forces had continued to attack their positions.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday it had recorded 1,971 ceasefire violations by Ukrainian forces, including drone strikes. The head of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said rescuers had uncovered the bodies of two civilians who were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Saturday afternoon.
Zelenskyy congratulated Hungary’s Péter Magyar on his “resounding victory” in parliamentary elections on Sunday, pledging to work with the country’s new leadership “for the benefit of both nations”. “Congratulations to [Péter Magyar] and the TISZA party on their resounding victory … We are ready for meetings and joint constructive work for the benefit of both nations, as well as peace, security, and stability in Europe,” the Ukrainian president said on X.
The EU will be waiting to see how Magyar changes Hungary’s approach to Ukraine. Orbán repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support the neighbouring country in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to Putin and refusing to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy imports.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Sunday that Russian troops still needed to take control of 17-18% of Ukraine’s disputed Donetsk region, the state news agency Tass reported. Russian forces would continue fighting in Ukraine after the Orthodox Easter truce ended, he said.
Pjotr Sauer travelled to Bucha to report on the Ukrainians drawn in online by Russian intelligence services, promised money or coerced into carrying out sabotage attacks against their own country.
