Ukraine said Russian forces continued drone strikes against Ukrainian positions after a Kremlin-declared Easter ceasefire took effect on Saturday, with a Ukrainian military officer saying the pause in fighting was not being respected.
According to Ukrainian reports, there were 469 violations of President Vladimir Putin’s 32-hour ceasefire. The claims came just hours after deadly drone attacks on the southern cities of Odesa and Kherson.
Serhii Kolesnychenko, a communications officer for the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade, said the truce was not being observed by the Russian side.
The Kremlin announced the Easter ceasefire as a temporary halt in hostilities, but Ukrainian forces said the attacks continued despite the order. The reports added to long-running doubts over whether short pauses in the war could hold on the battlefield.
The latest allegations came as fighting remained active across several parts of the front line, with drones continuing to play a major role in strikes on Ukrainian positions and cities. Ukraine’s account of the ceasefire violations suggested that the situation on the ground changed little after the announcement.
Odesa and Kherson, both in southern Ukraine, have been frequent targets of Russian drone attacks during the war. Ukrainian officials said the earlier strikes on those cities were deadly, underscoring the persistence of aerial attacks even as the ceasefire was supposed to be in effect.
While the ceasefire was framed as a temporary Easter pause, the Ukrainian military’s statement indicated that combat operations had not stopped. The reported violations suggest that the limited truce did not produce a meaningful reduction in hostilities, at least from Ukraine’s perspective.
As the situation developed, Ukrainian forces continued to monitor Russian activity and report incoming drone attacks. The military’s account pointed to a ceasefire that existed on paper, but not in practice.
