New Challenges for Ukraine: Responses to Ceasefire Violations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following the report from Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that Russian forces violated the "Easter ceasefire" 2935 times. He emphasized that Ukrainian actions will mirror the aggressor's actions.

Zelensky noted: "The total number of violations by the Russian army of its own promise of silence today stands at 2935".

He added that the most significant activity is observed in the Pokrovsk direction.

The president also remarked that "the promise of silence was not upheld in the Kursk direction either".

According to Zelensky, there were 96 Russian assaults, 1882 shellings of Ukrainian positions, including 812 from heavy weapons, and more than 950 cases of FPV drone usage.

Zelensky stated: "Moscow lacked the time to respond to the proposal for a complete ceasefire for the next 30 days after Easter, as well as to the proposal for silence in the skies concerning civilian infrastructure".

He emphasized that Ukrainian actions will remain mirrored: silence will be met with silence, and our strikes will respond to Russian attacks. "Actions are always more eloquent than words".

As a reminder, on the evening of April 19, Zelensky stated that the Russian "Easter ceasefire" does not extend to the Kursk and Belgorod regions, and shelling has not ceased in other parts of the front.

Zelensky also proposed extending the ban on long-range strikes for 30 days, as there were no air alerts during the so-called "Easter ceasefire" despite numerous violations by Russia.

Background:

• On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an "Easter ceasefire", which supposedly involves halting all hostilities in Ukraine from the evening of April 19 to midnight April 21, provided that Kyiv adheres to it.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Saturday evening that Ukraine would respond in kind to Russia's ceasefire efforts.
• According to the monitoring project DeepState, military personnel felt no effect of the so-called "Easter ceasefire" on any front.
• According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the beginning of April 20, there have been 45 combat encounters at the front, including 20 in the Pokrovsk direction.
• The Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not issue orders to extend the so-called "Easter ceasefire", which the Russians were not adhering to anyway, after midnight April 21.