Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Vladimir Putin of violating an ‘Easter truce’ only hours after it was declared.
According to his top commander, the Ukrainian president stated that Russian artillery fire continues unabated, despite Putin’s order for a ceasefire from 6pm (4pm UK time) until Monday.
Russian president Vladimir Putin declared a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine today, describing the pause in fighting as an “Easter truce”.
“Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 [Moscow time] to 00:00 [Moscow time] from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce,” Putin said in a televised meeting with his chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov,
“I order that all military actions be stopped for this period.”
Putin expressed his expectation that Ukraine would follow suit and added that Russian artillery would remain prepared to respond to any potential "violations and provocations" from the Ukrainian side.
However, shortly before 8pm UK time, Mr Zelensky wrote on X: "As of now, according to the Commander-in-Chief reports, Russian assault operations continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided.
"Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow."
Zelensky said Russia had rejected such a proposal brokered by US President Donald Trump last month and could not be trusted.
It comes after Trump reinforced Washington’s warning to walk away from peace negotiations if there is no indication of swift progress.
Meanwhile, the UK government has urged Russia to commit to a full ceasefire in Ukraine, "not just a one-day pause".
"Ukraine has committed to a full ceasefire. We urge Russia to do the same," a foreign office spokesperson said, adding that a pause would enable negotiations for a just and enduring peace.
"Now is the moment for Putin to show he is serious about peace by ending his horrible invasion.”
The European Union on Saturday reacted cautiously to Russian President Vladimir Putin's declaration of a unilateral 30-hour Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, saying Moscow could stop the war immediately if it wanted to.
"Russia has a track record as an aggressor, so first we need to see any actual halt of the aggression and clear deeds for a lasting ceasefire," said Anitta Hipper, the European Commission's lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security.
Hipper added that it had been more than a month since Ukraine agreed to an unconditional ceasefire.
In a televised meeting earlier today, Putin ordered a 30-hour pause in the Ukraine-Russia war in an “Easter truce”.
"Based on humanitarian considerations ... the Russian side announces an Easter truce. I order a stop to all military activities for this period," Putin told Valery Gerasimov, Chief of Russia's General Staff.
"We assume that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions."
Shortly after the announcement, around an hour before it was due to take effect, air raid sirens rang out in Kyiv. Another warning was put in place briefly in Kyiv and the region around the capital about four hours after the ceasefire deadline.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the ceasefire "another attempt by Putin to play with human lives."
He wrote on X that "air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine," and "Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin's true attitude toward Easter and toward human life."
Zelenskyy had stopped short of stating his forces would reject Putin's request, but dismissed the Russian move as playing for time to regroup its invasion forces and prepare additional attacks.
Since the announcement of the ‘Easter truce’, Russia and Ukraine said they have exchanged 246 prisoners of war — the largest exchange since the Russian full-scale invasion started over three years ago.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said 31 wounded Ukrainians were also exchanged for 15 wounded Russians as a "gesture of goodwill".
The ministry states that all released Russian nationals will undergo "treatment and rehabilitation" at medical facilities.
Zelenskyy said the return of 277 Ukrainian servicemen was "one of the best pieces of news that can be".
"I thank everyone who made this return of our people possible," he said, adding he is "especially grateful to the United Arab Emirates for their mediation".
Despite Putin’s proclamation of a ceasefire, however, a Ukrainian official said on Saturday that Russian forces were continuing to open fire on Ukrainian positions.
"The Russians are trying to pretend that they are 'peacekeepers', but they already refused an unconditional ceasefire on March 11 and now are conducting an information operation, talking about a 'truce' but continuing to shoot without stopping," Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation, wrote on Telegram.
"This is all with the aim of blaming Ukraine," wrote Kovalenko, whose centre is a body within the National Security and Defence Council.
The temporary ceasefire announcement came on the same day that Russia's defence ministry said its forces pushed Ukrainian forces from one of their last remaining footholds in Russia's Kursk region. Russian forces took control of the village of Oleshnya, on the border with Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.
Russian and North Korean soldiers have nearly deprived Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking most of the region, where Ukrainian troops staged a surprise incursion last year.
In other developments, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday.
It said 33 of them were intercepted and another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
Russian attacks have damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region, Ukraine's state emergency service said on Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported. Russia's ministry of defence said its air defence systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides, displaced millions of Ukrainian civilians and reduced frontline Ukrainian cities to rubble.
In January 2023, Putin had ordered his forces in Ukraine to observe a unilateral, 36-hour cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas.
Putin has said repeatedly that he wants an end to the war, but had not retreated from his initial demands that Kyiv cede all territory he claims to have annexed and be permanently barred from joining a defence alliance with the West.
Kyiv says those terms would be tantamount to surrender and leave it undefended from future Russian attacks.
Putin told Gerasimov on Saturday that Russia welcomed efforts from the U.S., China and BRICS countries to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
