Putin Gave No Order to Extend Easter Truce, Kremlin Says

The Russian government will not extend the “Easter Truce” beyond April 20, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitriy Peskov told ASTRA.

“Vladimir Putin gave no instruction to extend the Easter Truce,” Peskov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had proposed extending the ceasefire for an additional 30 days.

According to Zelensky, there had been a noticeable decrease in the intensity of fighting as of Easter morning.

At the same time, he said Russian forces continued offensive actions in several parts of the front line and inflicted losses on Ukrainian troops.

“Russia must fully observe the ceasefire conditions. Ukraine’s proposal to implement and extend the ceasefire for 30 days after midnight remains in effect. We will respond based on the actual situation,” Zelensky said.

Truce violation

Militarnyi recently reported that Russia has not observed the “Easter truce” it declared, according to Ukrainian officials, who reported more than 20 assaults and nearly 450 attacks by Russian forces since the ceasefire was meant to begin.

According to the morning report of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, as of 6:00 on April 20, Russian forces carried out 59 attacks and five assault actions in various operational directions.

Russian troops firing Giatsint-S self-propelled guns. Photo from open sources

Clashes were recorded in several areas: one in the Starobilsk operational tactical group, three in the Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka sectors in the Donetsk region, and one in the Stepove area of the Zaporizhzhia direction.

Russian troops attacked a vehicle of the Proliska humanitarian evacuation mission with FPV drones during the evacuation of civilians from the village of Zorya near Kostyantynivka.

The vehicle was struck by a drone carrying fragmentation munitions.

Following the initial strike, two additional drones reportedly targeted individuals on the ground.