Kremlin-ordered truce is uncertain amid suspicion of motives

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned the Kremlin’s intentions, accusing it of planning the fighting pause “to continue the war with renewed vigour”

A view of an apartment building, damaged during heavy fighting, in Mariupol, in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine (Alexei Alexandrov/AP)

The impact of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order for his forces in Ukraine to observe a unilateral, 36-hour cease-fire is in doubt after Kyiv officials dismissed the move as a ploy – but did not clarify whether Ukrainian troops will follow suit.

Moscow also did not say whether it will hit back if Ukraine keeps fighting.