Closing summary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier today that Russia had stepped up its attacks on Sunday morning despite the Easter ceasefire Moscow declared yesterday.
Zelenskyy said on Sunday morning that Ukrainian forces had recorded 59 instances of Russian shelling and five assaults by units along the front line, as well as dozens of drone strikes. This was despite Vladimir Putin’s promise of a 30 hour “easter truce” which the Russian president said would last from 18:00 Moscow time (16:00 BST) on Saturday until midnight on Sunday in Moscow.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed, in turn, that Ukraine launched drone attacks hundreds of times, accusing Kyiv of breaking the temporary ceasefire.
Ukraine has proposed extending the truce beyond Sunday but Russia has given no indication there will be one.
The British Ministry of Defence said two of its fighter jets had intercepted Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea close to Nato alliance airspace in separate incidents on Tuesday and Thursday.
Several blasts ripped through Russian-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine this morning, the Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported. A source in the local “operative services” told the news agency that the Ukrainian armed forces had “delivered a strike” in the Budennovsky district of the city.
The Russians also reportedly attacked an evacuation convoy in the village of Zoria, near the city of Kostiantynivka. At least two civilians and a rescue worker from the Proliksa aid agency were hurt when Russian drones targeted their cars.
Thanks for following along today. We are now closing this blog. You can read all our Ukraine coverage here.
In a post shared on Telegram, the Russian ministry of defence said Ukraine has lost more than 75,000 soldiers and more than 400 tanks in total in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces staged a surprise incursion last year.
Military officials say they are continuing to repel Ukrainian soldiers in the region. We have not been able to independently verify either claim.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday its forces has pushed Ukrainian troops from the village of Oleshnya, one of their last remaining footholds in the Kursk region.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces “continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions”.
