Putin, who ordered thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022, ordered Russian forces to “stop all military activity” along the front line in the three-year-old war until midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT) on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was pretending to observe the Easter ceasefire, but had in fact continued hundreds of artillery attacks on Saturday night, with more assaults on Sunday.

Zelensky wrote on the X social media platform that Russia had launched 26 assaults from midnight until midday local time (0900 GMT).

“Either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favourable PR coverage,” Zelensky’s post added.

Earlier he stated the Russian army “is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire”, while continuing to inflict losses on Ukraine’s front line.

Russia’s Defence Ministry announced that Ukraine had broken the ceasefire more than 1,000 times, inflicting damage to infrastructure and causing some civilian deaths.

The ministry said Ukrainian forces had shot at Russian positions 444 times while it had counted more than 900 Ukrainian drone attacks, including attacks on Crimea and on the Russian border areas of Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions.

“As a result, there are deaths and injuries among the civilian population, as well as damage to civilian facilities,” the ministry added.

Ukraine’s military noted earlier on Sunday that activity on the front line had decreased. Some Russian military bloggers also stated military activity along the frontline has substantially decreased.

The apparent failure to observe even an Easter ceasefire shows just how hard it will be for U.S. President Donald Trump to achieve his aim of clinching a lasting deal to end what he calls the “bloodbath” of the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon, Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, stated on Friday.

Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly warned of the escalation risk of the war – which his administration now casts as a proxy conflict between the U.S. and Russia, echoing Moscow’s stance.

Last month, after Ukraine accepted Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, Putin said crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out. Both Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to a moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea, which each accuses the other of breaking.

Zelensky reiterated that Kyiv was willing to extend the ceasefire for 30 days but said that if Russia kept fighting on Sunday, so would Ukraine.
Putin told his top general, Valery Gerasimov, to be ready to respond “in full” if Kyiv broke the truce.

Russia controls just under one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Putin, when announcing the ceasefire before heading to an Orthodox Easter service, said the truce would show whether or not Ukraine was ready or able to implement peace. Putin thanked Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economies for attempts to mediate.

The European Union reacted cautiously to Putin’s ceasefire declaration, saying Moscow could stop the war immediately if it wanted to.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated U.N. support “for meaningful efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”.

Easter falls on the same day this year for Orthodox and Western churches, and Zelensky urged Ukrainians not to give up hope that peace will one day return.

“We know what we are defending. We know what we are fighting for,” he stated in a social media video, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt and standing in front of Kyiv’s main church, Saint Sophia Cathedral.

Witkoff has already met with Russian President Vladimir Putin three times this year as the US president tries to broker a ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow.

In its article on Saturday, CNN further quoted its source as saying that Washington’s plan, which was reportedly presented to Ukrainian officials and several European leaders during a top-level meeting in Paris on Thursday, envisages a ceasefire along the current front line. The US government also supposedly signaled a willingness to recognize Crimea as Russian territory.

Commenting on his meeting with Putin in Moscow last Friday, Witkoff told Fox News on Monday that the nearly five-hour talks were “compelling” and that the Kremlin is seeking a lasting solution to the Ukraine conflict.

Trump’s special envoy claimed that Moscow and Kiev “might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.”

According to the US official, any potential peace deal would include the recognition of Crimea, the Donetsk, and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions as part of Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that while there were “no clear outlines of any agreement yet,” Moscow values the “constructive and substantive” contact with the US.

Witkoff’s remarks did not sit well with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, who on Thursday accused Trump’s envoy of “wittingly or unwittingly spreading Russian narratives.”

He reiterated that Kiev will “never recognize any temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian.”

Russia has maintained that it is open to peace talks with Ukraine in principle, as long as its key security concerns are addressed. Moscow demands among other things that Kiev renounce its NATO aspirations and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.”

The Kremlin has insisted it will not accept a mere freeze of the conflict.

On Saturday, President Putin announced a temporary Easter truce effective from 18:00 Moscow time through midnight on Sunday night.

While he expressed hope that Ukraine would reciprocate, he also stated that the “Kiev regime has violated the agreement on pausing energy infrastructure strikes more than a hundred times.”

Putin argued that Ukraine’s reaction to the ceasefire would be a clear indicator of whether Kiev is serious about wanting to achieve peace.

Zelensky has made a counteroffer to a 30-hour Easter ceasefire announced by Putin, saying Kiev is ready to extend it beyond this period.

Ukraine’s leader made the remarks on his social media account late on Saturday, implying that it was primarily up to Moscow to observe the truce and that Kiev would only do likewise.

“If Russia is now suddenly ready to really join the format of complete and unconditional ceasefire, Ukraine will act in a reciprocal way – as it will be from the Russian side. Silence in response to silence, strikes in response to strikes,” Zelensky stated, adding that if the truce holds, Kiev is ready to extend it beyond the 30-hour period.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he ordered a halt on all combat operations during the Easter holiday. The temporary ceasefire is set to last from 6 p.m. Moscow time on April 19 until midnight on April 21.

Zelensky said that Kyiv was prepared to abide by a ceasefire if Russia is serious about halting attacks, but will respond in kind if Russia violates the truce.

“If complete silence really prevails, Ukraine proposes to extend it after the end of Easter on April 20,” he added.

“This will show Russia’s true intentions, because 30 hours is enough for headlines, but not for real confidence-building measures. Thirty days can give peace a chance.”

Russia has not suspended all assault operations on the front line, Zelensky said, citing reports from Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. The continued shelling and attacks undermine trust in Moscow’s claims of a truce.

“The Ukrainian Defense Forces will act rationally, responding in a mirror manner. There will be an adequate response to every Russian strike,” Zelensky added.

Ukraine remains ready to begin an unconditional ceasefire in line with Washington’s previous proposal for a 30-day truce as soon as Russia agrees to the same terms, the president continued.

Zelensky initially reacted skeptically to Putin’s declaration of an Easter truce, noting that air raids were sounding in Kyiv even as Russia publicly claimed its peaceful intentions. Putin’s announcement came shortly after the U.S. signaled that it was ready to cease its mediation efforts in Russia’s war against Ukraine if either side “makes it difficult.”

A senior Ukrainian military officer reportedly told the BBC’s Russia service that Ukrainian units received orders to cease fire against Russian positions minutes after the Easter truce was set to go into effect.

Soldiers were also ordered to document any Russian ceasefire violations and return fire if necessary, the officer said.

Moscow’s proposed Easter ceasefire comes on the heels of two major Russian attacks on Ukraine during Orthodox holidays. A deadly missile strike on Sumy on Palm Sunday killed 35 people while an attack against Kharkiv on Good Friday killed one person and injured 120.