KYIV, Ukraine – Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire unilaterally declared by President Vladimir Putin over the weekend killed three people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a regional official said Monday.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of Kherson’s administration, wrote on Telegram that the casualties occurred over the last 24 hours, adding that three others were wounded in the region, parts of which are occupied by Russia.
After Putin declared the move on Saturday, Ukraine responded by voicing readiness to reciprocate any genuine ceasefire but said the Russian attacks continued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia violated the ceasefire more than 2,900 times.
Zelenskyy said that Russian forces carried out 96 assault operations along the front line, shelled Ukrainian positions more than 1,800 times and used hundreds of drones during the course of the ceasefire. “The nature of Ukrainian actions will continue to be mirror-like: we will respond to silence with silence, and our blows will be a defense against Russian blows. Actions always speak louder than words,” he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, listed 4,900 Ukrainian violations of the ceasefire. It charged that Moscow’s forces “strictly observed the ceasefire and remained at previously occupied lines and positions.”
Speaking Monday, Putin said that the fighting resumed after the ceasefire expired at midnight (2100 GMT). Commenting on Zelenskyy’s call for a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire or, at least, a halt on strikes on civilian facilities, the Russian leader noted that Kyiv was trying to “seize the initiative,” adding that “we must think about it, carefully assess everything and look at the results of the ceasefire.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia would inform “all the interested parties” about the Ukrainian violations of the ceasefire.
Peskov said that Russia “remains open to searching for a peaceful settlement and is continuing to work with the American side,” adding that “we certainly hope that this work will produce results.”
Overnight into Monday, the Russian forces fired three missiles at Ukraine’s southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, as well as 96 Shahed drones targeting other parts of the country, Ukraine’s Air Force reported. It said it downed 42 drones, while 47 others were jammed mid-flight.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drones sparked a fire at an “outbuilding” and a “food enterprise,” regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram. No one was injured in the attack, he said. An unspecified infrastructure object was damaged in the Cherkasy region overnight, regional head Ihor Taburets said on Telegram.
Four civilians also sustained injuries in the partially occupied Donetsk region, according to regional head Vadym Filashkin, who said that the Russian forces shelled settlements in the region five times over the last 24 hours.
AP
