Summary
- Russia and Ukraine are both accusing each other of breaking a 30-hour “Easter truce”
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s words “empty” as he says there have been more than 46 Russian assaults since the start of the day
- Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry is claiming Ukraine launched drone attacks hundreds of times, according to state media sources
- In a surprise announcement on Saturday, Putin said there would be an end to all hostilities from 16:00 BST on Saturday until 22:00 BST (midnight in Moscow) on Sunday
- The “Easter truce” comes shortly after US President Donald Trump threatened to “take a pass” on brokering further Russia-Ukraine peace talks
- “You can hear bird songs in Kherson,” the BBC’s Ukraine correspondent says as he reports it’s been quieter on the front line since Putin’s temporary truce was announced
Zelensky says Russian activity is still on the rise
Zelensky has just shared an update, quoting his commander-in-chief’s report at 16:00 local time (14:00 BST).
He says Russian military activity is increasing – something the Ukrainian president also mentioned this morning.
According to Zelensky, there have been 46 Russian assaults and more than 900 cases of shelling since the start of the day.
The BBC has not independently verified these figures.
He says that in some regions, Putin’s words “have proven empty”.
“The Ukrainian army is acting – and will continue to act – in a fully symmetrical manner,” the president says.
“This Easter has clearly demonstrated that the only source of this war, and the reason it drags on, is Russia.”
We haven’t heard from Putin since he announced the “Easter truce”, but earlier, Russia has also accused Ukraine of not respecting the ceasefire.
Putin does not want peace, says security analyst
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the “Easter truce” proposal was driven by humanitarian reasons.
But Odesa-based security analyst Hanna Shelest casts doubts over his motives.
“Allow me to be sceptical, because we had 11 years of different ceasefires with Moscow in the Minsk agreement and none of them really been fulfilled,” she tells the BBC News channel.
The analyst suggests Putin may have been motivated to introduce a temporary truce due to the “negative” statements from the White House.
As a reminder, US President Donald Trump threatened to “take a pass” on negotiations should Moscow or Kyiv “make it very difficult” to reach a peace deal.
Putin “needed to show something” to the White House, Shelest says, “to create an image that he is ready for this”.
Increasingly unlikely 30-hour truce would lead to lasting peace
In a statement Russia’s defence ministry claimed that all its forces had been adhering to the Easter ceasefire.
It accused Ukraine’s army of violating it hundreds of times. Earlier on social media Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky painted a different picture.
“The Russian army,” he wrote, “was attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire, while in some areas continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine”.
As Ukraine and Russia traded accusations, it looked increasingly unlikely that the 30-hour truce announced by Russia would lead to anything approaching a lasting peace.
What’s more likely is that President Putin will use it to try to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of Washington – to convince Donald Trump that it’s Moscow, not Kyiv, that wants peace.
RAF ‘intercepted two Russian aircraft close to Nato airspace’ this week
Here in London, the Ministry of Defence says that UK fighter jets have intercepted two Russian aircraft flying close to Nato airspace this week.
On Tuesday, two RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled from Malbork Air Base in Poland to intercept a Russian intelligence aircraft over the Baltic Sea.
And, on Thursday, two Typhoons intercepted an unknown aircraft leaving Kaliningrad air space.
“This mission shows our ability to… defend the alliance’s airspace wherever and whenever needed, keeping us safe at home and strong abroad,” Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard says.
Russia gives update of military action in Kursk
In another update from the Russian Ministry of Defence, military officials say they are continuing to “repel[…]” Ukrainian forces in the border region of Kursk.
In a post shared on the messaging app Telegram, the Russia’s MoD suggests that Ukraine has lost more than 75,000 troops and more than 400 tanks in total in Kursk.
Kherson’s eerie silence
The military were initially reluctant to let us into Kherson. It seems they are nervous about “provocation attacks” by the occupying Russian forces across the Dnipro River.
Once we were allowed past the city’s main checkpoint, we weaved through scarred streets to one of Kherson’s churches.
“It’s been really quiet,” Svitlana tells us after celebrating Easter Sunday. “Hopefully this means we can live in peace beyond today.”
Kherson is a city that has seen it all: occupation, liberation, flooding after the destruction of a dam, and daily shelling. Its people would notice any respite, and it seems they have.
On all my previous visits to the city, there were always regular artillery exchanges between Ukrainian and Russian forces. More recently invading troops have targeted civilians with drones packed with explosives.
But not today. You can hear bird songs in Kherson’s central square.
Asides from some shelling overnight and a reported drone strike this morning, it has been quiet, we’re told. Artem, a local soldier, says he has never seen this before.
Next to a destroyed stadium, struck by a Russian glide bomb three days ago, I ask him whether he has faith this truce will stretch beyond tonight?
“We can’t have faith, but we can have hope,” he replies.
The effectiveness of this truce varies across the front line, but if goes on beyond Russia’s midnight deadline, it could be an early paving stone on a path to peace.
What is more likely, though, is the familiar rhythm of this war resuming.
Easter truce splits Kyiv and Donetsk worshippers
We’re hearing mixed reactions about Putin’s 30-hour truce from Ukrainians attending Easter morning service in Kyiv and the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk.
“Trusting Putin’s words is like trusting the devil,” Oleksandra Semeniak tells the Reuters news agency. “Today it is better to trust God and keep faith in better times.”
“I do not think this man [Putin] has anything to do with humanity,” says 45-year-old lawyer Olena Poprych, who adds she believes the ceasefire is “a prerequisite for something bad”.
Meanwhile in Donetsk, where much of the city has been under Russian control since 2014, residents are expressing similar distrust that Zelensky will stick to the terms of the ceasefire.
“To be honest, I don’t have hopes on the Ukrainian side, they have deceived us so many times, I do not trust them,” one local worshipper, identified only as Olga, tells Reuters.
“I watched very closely his [Zelensky’s] reactions,” says Vladimir, who also attended Easter morning service in Donetsk. “There was nothing about the ceasefire…just some vague statements, not giving any confidence that we will not be shelled.”
Accusations fly as ‘Easter truce’ passes halfway stage
Throughout the morning we’ve been reporting on developments in Russia and Ukraine after a truce announced by Putin came into effect yesterday.
Over halfway through the 30-hour ceasefire, both countries have accused the other of not abiding by it. Here’s the latest:
- Russia and Ukraine have claimed fighting continued overnight – each accusing the other of drone strikes and shelling
- Zelensky said Ukraine would “continue to act in a mirror manner” to Russia, while accusing Putin’s declaration of the truce as a “PR” exercise – adding that shelling and drone activity had intensified in recent hours
- Separately, Russian media cited accusations from the Ministry of Defence that Ukraine had shot at their positions and launched drone attacks hundreds of times overnight and into this morning
- Easter celebrations have been taking place on the rare occasion that Easter Sunday has fallen on the same day on the Julian and Western calendars
- Ukrainians attending Easter services told the Reuters news agency they do not trust Putin’s intentions
The truce will come to an end at midnight local time tonight (22:00 BST) – Ukraine wants an extension but Russia has given no indication there will be one.
Stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest.
Why did Putin invade Ukraine?
Russia has repeatedly painted modern Ukraine as a Nazi state, in a crass distortion of history.
Putin had already seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, after a revolution ousted Ukraine’s pro-Russian president and replaced him with a more pro-Western government.
Days before the 2022 invasion started, Putin called on the Ukrainian military to “take power into your own hands” and target the “gangs of drug addicts and neo-Nazis” running the government.
Putin then accused the Western defensive alliance, Nato, of trying to gain a foothold in Ukraine to bring its troops closer to Russia’s borders.
Thirty days v 30 hours – the truce proposal Putin previously rejected
As he responded to Putin’s truce announcement, Zelensky urged Russia to commit to a 30-day ceasefire rather than a 30-hour pause.
Kyiv had previously agreed to American proposals last month for a comprehensive ceasefire on both sides. Moscow did not.
It was a plan that went beyond what Zelensky had initially put forward as a partial truce in the sky and at sea.
The eight-paragraph proposal, announced in a joint US-Ukraine statement in March, followed lengthy talks in Saudi Arabia.
Putin rejected proposals for a full ceasefire, but did agree to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days. That pause has now ended.
The Russian president indicated he would only agree to a comprehensive truce if foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine came to an end.
Zelensky calls the Kremlin’s bluff – but what impact will this have on the war?
What is interesting is how Ukraine’s President Zelensky has effectively called the Kremlin’s bluff saying: “30 hours? Make it 30 days. If you are serious, we will be as well.”
President Zelensky can’t afford to be antagonistic in this moment because Donald Trump – we know from previous months – will only take a dim view of Kyiv and not Moscow.
It’s tricky for Zelensky. This could turn into something. But few in Ukraine think it will turn into anything meaningful or stable that will allow this war to end.
Putin’s ‘Easter truce’ announcement – in fewer than 150 words
“Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 (16:00 BST) to 00:00 (22:00 BST) from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his announcement yesterday.
“For this period, I order all military actions to cease. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions.
“We know that the Kyiv regime has violated the agreement on non-strikes on energy infrastructure more than 100 times.”
He adds: “Our decision on the Easter truce will show how sincere is the readiness of the Kyiv regime and its desire, and indeed its ability, to comply with the agreements and participate in the process of peace negotiations aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crises.”