Russia launched a wave of aerial attacks at Ukraine on Monday in an abrupt end to a fragile Easter truce, while Vladimir Putin pushed back against the idea of a month-long halt to strikes on civilian targets, as proposed by Kyiv.
The renewed attacks, confirmed by both Moscow and Kyiv, cast doubt on Donald Trump’s hopes for a broader ceasefire between the two sides, hours after the US president said he hoped a “deal” could be struck this week.
“Military action has resumed,” Putin told state TV reporters on Monday, after Ukrainian officials reported a wave of overnight drone and artillery strikes following the partially observed 30-hour truce.
Each side had, in any case, accused the other of thousands of violations of the ceasefire, which Putin ordered in a surprise announcement on Saturday.
“But overall, there was a fall in such activity,” Putin said, after listing alleged Ukrainian violations.
“We welcome this and are ready to look to the future.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had welcomed the ceasefire and said his military would respond “symmetrically” to whatever Russia’s forces did on the battlefield.
Kyiv officials have accused Putin of seeking a cheap reputational victory by proposing the truce — which came hours after Trump threatened to walk away from efforts to secure peace in the three-year war if he did not see progress.
Welcoming a day without air raid alerts across the country, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed Sunday “to cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days.”
– ‘Impossible’ –
Putin said Russia would “analyse” the idea, but questioned how it would work as he accused Ukraine of using civilian buildings — like restaurants and universities — for military purposes.
In rare comments on a specific Russian strike, he claimed Ukraine had been using a university building in Sumy for a military awards ceremony on April 13, when two Russian ballistic missiles hit the city centre, killing at least 35 people.
“Is it a civilian facility or not? But the regime is using these civilian facilities,” Putin said.
“We need to figure this out,” he said, adding he did not exclude bilateral talks with Ukraine on the issue.
“We will analyse everything and take the corresponding decisions,” he said.
Hours earlier, Ukrainian officials had reported drone and missile strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.
Ukraine’s air force said it had downed 42 Russian attack drones in an overnight attack starting at 2:00 am Monday (2300 GMT Sunday).
The Easter truce ended at 2100 GMT on Sunday, with both sides reporting a dip in fighting.
Ukrainian military personnel in eastern Ukraine told AFP they welcomed the brief respite, but did not hold out hope in a longer-term truce.
Viktor Danylchuk, a military instructor, told AFP he welcomed that he “could spend time with his family in peace.”
But he thought any more such agreements were “impossible” because “the enemy keeps attacking.”
– Trump’s ‘hopes’ –
Putin’s ceasefire declaration came after Trump said Friday he would end Washington’s efforts to halt the war unless the two sides moved towards an accord.
The US president on Sunday expressed hopes the two sides could strike an agreement in the coming days, though he did not elaborate on what he had in mind.
“Hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week,” he said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump had last month tabled a proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, which was accepted by Ukraine but rebuffed by Putin.
Asked about Trump’s remarks on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “hopes” US efforts “will yield results”, but declined to comment on the timeline of negotiations.