Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Sunday of violating a truce in place for Orthodox Easter thousands of times, as the war dragged on into its fifth year.
Both sides had agreed to observe the halt to hostilities for the religious holiday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to a proposal made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky more than a week before.
But as with a similar agreement last year, only relative calm reigned along the 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) frontline.
“As of 7:00 a.m. on April 12, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded. Specifically: 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, 747 strikes by attack drones... and 1,045 strikes by FPV drones,” the Ukrainian military's general staff said in a post on Facebook.
“There were no missile strikes, guided aerial bomb strikes, or Shahed-type UAV strikes,” it added.
In turn, Russia's Defense Ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches of its own.
“A total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4:00 pm Moscow time on April 11 and 8:00 am on April 12,” the ministry said.
The Russian ministry claimed Kyiv had fired 258 times using artillery or tanks, carried out 1,329 FPV drone strikes, and dropped “various types of munitions” on 375 occasions, notably via drones.
Moscow also accused the Ukrainian military of launching “three nighttime attacks” against Russian positions and also “four attempts to advance” along the frontline, while claiming to have thwarted each.
Holiday joy
However, in a sign that the truce had some effect, the Ukrainian army stressed that it had recorded no long-range Shahed drone attacks, guided aerial bombings or missile strikes.
Ukraine has had to deal with near-nightly barrages of hundreds of Russian drones, prompting retaliation from Kyiv.
In northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Lieutenant Colonel Vasyl Kobziak told AFP on Sunday morning that things were “rather calm” in his sector.
While the 32-year-old officer said the truce had not been “fully” observed, the lull had allowed his soldiers of the 33rd Mechanized Brigade to attend an Easter Sunday mass outside in the freezing forest chill.
“Our comrades have the chance, as you can see, to have their Easter baskets blessed and to feel the warmth and joy of this holiday,” he told AFP, referring to the religious tradition of priests blessing food and eggs.
The truce had been due to last for 32 hours, from 4:00 pm on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the Kremlin.
In Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Khinshtein also accused Kyiv of breaking the ceasefire by attacking a gas station in the town of Lgov with a drone, injuring three people, including a baby.
In his evening address on Saturday, Zelensky called for a longer ceasefire, insisting the ball was in Moscow's court.
But in comments aired Sunday, the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected any extension unless the Ukrainian leader accepted Russia's “well-known” terms.
“Until Zelensky musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires,” Peskov added, referring to the war in Ukraine.
A similar ceasefire was announced in Ukraine for Orthodox Easter last year, only for both sides to accuse each other of numerous violations.
Frontline freeze
Recent months have seen several rounds of U.S.-brokered negotiations fail to bring the warring parties closer to an agreement to stop the fighting, triggered by Russia's February 2022 invasion.
The process has stalled further since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, with Washington's attention having shifted toward Iran.
But even before the Iran war, progress toward a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over the issue of territory.
Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines.
But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants the whole of the Donetsk region despite it being partly controlled by Ukraine — a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable.
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
Russia has paid a high price in manpower for its relatively small territorial gains.
Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Moscow occupies just over 19% of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.
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