Russia resumes attacks on Ukraine after Easter truce

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks with journalists during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on April 21, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia launched a wave of aerial attacks on Ukraine Monday (April 21, 2025) in an abrupt end to a fragile 30-hour Easter truce between the two sides.

The renewed strikes, 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.

“With the end of the ceasefire, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continued to conduct the special military operation,” the Russian army said in a statement, using its term for the military offensive.

Each side had in any case accused the other of thousands of violations of the ceasefire, announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

Just hours after the truce ended at midnight local time (2100 GMT) Sunday, Ukrainian officials reported renewed drone and missile strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

Sergiy Lysak, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk, said Russia had “launched drones” at the eastern region.

One home was damaged and a fire broke out at a food establishment, but no injuries had been reported, he said on Telegram.

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).

Shaky truce

The surprise 30-hour ceasefire was declared by Putin on Saturday, who said it was motivated by “humanitarian reasons”.

Both sides accused each other of numerous violations, but also reported a fall in the intensity of the fighting.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday the ceasefire had seen a halt to air attacks, but accused Moscow of carrying out hundreds of front line raids.

Russia’s defence ministry in turn said it had “repelled” Ukrainian assaults and accused Kyiv of launching hundreds of drones and shells, causing civilian casualties.

But it too said the intensity of fire from the Ukrainian side had been “considerably reduced” across the entire front line during the truce.

AFP journalists in eastern Ukraine on Sunday heard fewer explosions than usual and saw no smoke on the horizon.

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.

On Sunday he 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 earlier tabled a ceasefire proposal, which was accepted by Ukraine but rebuffed by Russia.

Asked about Trump’s remarks on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “hopes” US efforts “will yield results”, but he declined to comment on the timeline of negotiations.

China support

Zelensky has repeatedly offered a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, which Putin rejected following a call with Trump last month.

The Ukrainian leader on Sunday proposed a more limited agreement to halt “any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure” for at least 30 days.

Beijing on Monday said it welcomed “all efforts” towards pausing the fighting.

“China is pleased to see all efforts that lead to a ceasefire, which is a necessary step towards peace,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told journalists.

“We hope that all parties concerned will continue to resolve the crisis through dialogue and negotiations,” he added.

Ukraine last week accused China of supplying weapons to Russia and said that at least 155 Chinese nationals had been recruited to fight alongside Russia’s army.

Beijing denied its citizens had been recruited en masse by Russia and urged Chinese nationals not to take part in armed conflict.