Orthodox Easter was observed on Sunday in both Kyiv and Moscow amid competing accusations that each side had violated a short, agreed ceasefire.
In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a service at St. Sophia Cathedral, praising Ukrainians for standing firm after more than four years of conflict and saying they place their trust not only in heavenly powers but also in their security and defense forces.
In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin attended an Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, commending the Russian Orthodox Church for its support of what he calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine. Holding a candle, Putin said he had ordered a temporary ceasefire so Orthodox Christians in both countries could celebrate, though both sides said the pause was repeatedly breached.
Ukraine’s armed forces reported 2,299 violations of the truce since Saturday, citing 479 instances of artillery fire and roughly 1,800 smaller drone attacks. The military added there were no attacks involving rockets, glide bombs or Shahed drones.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine committed 1,971 ceasefire breaches between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, including incidents in the Pokrovsk sector in eastern Ukraine, and reported that “all attacks were repulsed.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media Moscow would not extend the Easter truce unless Kyiv accepted Russia’s peace terms. He said sustainable peace would come only after Russia secures its interests and achieves goals set at the outset of the operation, saying the outcome could be achieved “literally today” if Zelenskyy accepted those known solutions. Peskov also said Russian forces still aim to seize the remaining “17%–18%” of Donetsk oblast that remains under Ukrainian control, according to state news agency TASS.
The rival Easter services and the competing tallies of violations underlined how fragile the temporary pause was and how sharply political and military rhetoric persists even during the holiday observances.