Cnn
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Ukraine accused Russia of having violated the Easter truce which was announced without previous warning from the Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing Putin of only interested in public relations.
In a surprise decision on Saturday, Putin said he had ordered his forces to “end all military activities” at 6 pm Moscow time that day (11 a.m.) until midnight on Sunday to Monday (5 p.m. on Sunday HE).
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that Putin would not extend the cease-fire beyond the previously announced period, according to the Russian news agency Tass.
Ukrainian leaders said that although there was a certain slowdown in the wrestling overnight, the number of attacks by Russia started to increase as Sunday was progressing. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of having broken the ceasefire.
Putin’s announcement encountered immediate skepticism from Ukraine, although kyiv accepted the 30 -hour truce; There has been no break in the fighting since Russia launched its large -scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Questions have been raised about Putin’s motivations by calling for the brief judgment to hostilities, which came just after the Trump administration threatened to abandon peace efforts without tangible signs of progress. Russia previously rejected an American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire agreed by Ukraine.
Putin’s truce occurred just a few hours after the Russian army announced that it had pushed Ukrainian troops from one of their last advantage in the Southern Russian region of Kursk.
Zelensky said the Ukraine soldiers had increased Russian bombing and the use of drones since 10 a.m., local time on Sunday (3 h e).
“In practice, Putin does not have full control of her army, the situation proves that in Russia, they do not intend to make a real movement towards the end of the war and are only interested in the coverage of favorable public relations,” he said.
“This Easter has unequivocally proven that Russia is the only source of war and the reason for its extension. We are ready to head to peace and a complete, unconditional and fair cease-fire which can last at least 30 days, but Russia has not yet answered this,” added Zelensky later.
The 66th mechanized brigade of Ukraine, which is currently positioned near Lyman in the east of the Ukrainian Donetsk region, said that it thought that Russia used the ceasefire to set up roads for heavy military equipment in the region. The brigade said that an exploded equipment that has blocked an important river crossing since early April was released on Sunday, while Russian troops took advantage of the break in dismissal.
Earlier Sunday, the Ukrainian chief said that even if there had been 387 cases of bombing and 19 assaults by Russia during the night, the Russian army “tried to create the general impression of a fire ceasefire, while in certain regions continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses in Ukraine.”
However, in the middle of the afternoon, Zelensky cited a report by the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said that the use of heavy weapons by Russian troops increased.
“Between the start of the day and 4 p.m., a total of 46 Russian assault actions in various directions and 901 attacks took place, and in this number, 448 were manufactured with heavy weapons. More than four hundred uses of (DRones) by the Russians have already been recorded,” said Zelensky.
In the Kursk region in Russia – the theater of a Ukrainian shock foray last year – Moscow forces made artillery strikes and used drones, he added.
“Everywhere, our warriors react as the merit the enemy, on the basis of the specific combat situation. Ukraine will continue to act symmetrically,” said Zelensky.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its forces had “strictly observed” the ceasefire since 6 pm on Saturday evening and accused Ukraine of violating the break by fighting more than 1,000 times.
The ministry said that the Ukrainian units had shot Russian positions 444 times during the night, made more than 900 drone attacks and used 48 aircraft type drones.
“As a result, there have been deaths and injuries among the civilian population and damage to civilian objects,” said a statement from the ministry.
The Ukrainian leader called the ceasefire to be extended to 30 days, in accordance with a proposal by the United States last month that Russia rejected. Sunday morning, he reiterated that the proposal is still in place, despite the charges of repeated violations.
The armed forces of Ukraine said they would comply with the order to limit the fire of the Russian army, but would not show any restraint if they were drawn first.
A commander on the field warned on Sunday: “Yesterday, we were told to limit fire against the Russians. If they do not attack us or do not provoke ourselves, we do not shoot. If they move or no longer shoot, we can answer.”
Putin said the ceasefire was for humanitarian grounds, but added that his troops would respond to any “provocation”.
