Russia and Ukraine trade blame for violating Orthodox Easter ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin crosses himself during an Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on Sunday (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating a Kremlin-declared Easter ceasefire that took effect less than 24 hours earlier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called a 32-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, ordering Russian forces to halt hostilities from 4pm on Saturday until the end of Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to abide by the ceasefire, but warned there would be a swift military response to any violations.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement on Sunday it had recorded 2,299 ceasefire violations by 7am local time, including assaults, shelling and small drone launches.

An Easter bread with a candle in it was found covered by dust by Ukrainian emergency services following a Russian drone strike on Sumy on Saturday (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)

It said the use of long-range drones, missiles, or guided bombs had not been reported.

A Ukrainian military officer had said on Saturday that Russian forces had continued to attack their positions.

Russia’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said on Sunday it had recorded 1,971 ceasefire violations by Ukrainian forces, including drone strikes on Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions that injured civilians.

Previous attempts to secure ceasefires have had little or no impact, with the two sides blaming each other for violations.

Mr Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour ceasefire last Easter, but each side accused the other of breaking it.