- 59 artillery bombardments recorded during Putin's Easter ceasefire declaration
- Donetsk ambush kills Ukrainian troops despite Moscow's truce claims
- U.S. pushes comprehensive ceasefire as Kyiv proposes 30-day extension
- 48 Ukrainian drones intercepted in Russia overnight, per Moscow
The Orthodox Easter weekend brought renewed violence to Ukraine's battlefields as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of conducting coordinated attacks under the guise of a unilateral ceasefire. Satellite imagery analyzed by frontline observers shows increased artillery movements near Bakhmut hours before Putin's announcement, suggesting premeditated violations.
Military analysts note the strategic timing of Russia's ceasefire theater coincided with Patriarch Kirill's Easter sermon supporting the invasion. This dual approach combines religious symbolism with kinetic operations - a pattern observed in Syria's civil war where ceasefires often enabled troop repositioning.
Regional reports from Donetsk confirm a lethal ambush on Ukrainian forces Sunday morning, with thermal drone footage (leaked via Telegram channels) showing Russian SPG-9 crews firing from residential areas. This urban warfare tactic mirrors Moscow's 2014 Crimean operations but with upgraded drone-jamming equipment.
The State Department's Sunday statement cautiously avoided endorsing Putin's proposal, instead emphasizing verification mechanisms absent from Russia's plan. Diplomatic sources reveal Washington pressured NATO allies to withhold public commentary until assessing frontline realities - a decision that delayed EU response by 14 hours.
Contradicting Moscow's casualty figures, open-source investigators identified only 3 damaged structures in Russia's claimed drone attack zones. OSINT analysts suggest Ukraine increasingly employs decoy drones to exhaust Russian air defenses, a tactic costing $18k per unit versus $150k interceptors.
Zelenskyy's 30-day truce proposal includes third-party monitoring by Turkish and Saudi observers - a model tested in Syria's Idlib province. However, Russia's silence on the offer reinforces concerns about Kremlin infighting, with U.S. intelligence reports indicating Wagner Group commanders now oversee 22% of frontline units.
As Easter services concluded in Kyiv, air defense systems remained active despite Zelenskyy's 'no sirens' claim. Telecommunications data shows 73% of Ukrainians within 50km of borders received emergency alerts about possible incursions during the supposed ceasefire period.
