Russian attacks on Ukraine during Easter ceasefire killed three, Kherson official says

Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire announced by President Vladimir Putin at the weekend killed three people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, the local governor has said.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram that the casualties occurred over the last 24 hours, adding that three others were wounded.

Overall, Russia violated the ceasefire more than 2,900 times, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram statement in the early hours on Monday.

Zelenskyy said that Russian forces carried out 96 assault operations along the frontline, 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 defence against Russian blows. Actions always speak louder than words,” he said.

Putin announced a temporary Easter truce on Saturday, citing humanitarian reasons.

Ukraine said that it would reciprocate any genuine ceasefire by Moscow, but voiced scepticism over the Kremlin’s intentions.

Both sides traded accusations of violations shortly after. The ceasefire expired at midnight local time following Easter Sunday.

Overnight into Monday, 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,” Governor 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, Governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram.

In a statement on Monday, the Russian Defence Ministry maintained that Moscow’s forces “strictly observed the ceasefire and remained at previously occupied lines and positions.”

It accused Ukraine of violating the ceasefire 4,900 times, including six attempts at assault operations, 1,404 attacks from artillery, multiple rocket launchers and mortars and 3,316 drone strikes targeting Russian troops.

The ministry said that evvel the ceasefire expired, the Russian military “resumed the special military operation” in Ukraine.