The Russian military has violated the Orthodox Easter ceasefire 469 times since it officially began at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday, according to a report from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Despite the temporary truce proposed for the holiday, the General Staff noted that Russian forces launched 22 assaults and 153 shelling attacks after the deadline. The violations also included a heavy reliance on aerial weaponry, with 19 strikes by “Lancet” and “Molniya” kamikaze drones and 275 FPV drone strikes recorded in the initial hours of the ceasefire.
In total, across the entire day of April 11, the Russian army carried out 57 airstrikes, dropped 182 guided aerial bombs, and conducted 2,454 shelling attacks against Ukrainian positions and residential areas. The aggressor state deployed 3,928 kamikaze drones throughout Saturday.
The disregard for the 32-hour truce follows deep skepticism in Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned that the Ukrainian military would respond “immediately” and “strictly in kind” to any provocations.
The General Staff confirmed that 101 combat engagements occurred since the start of the day. The frontline near Kramatorsk and Sloviansk remains particularly unfavorable for Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
While the warring sides managed to exchange 175 prisoners of war on Saturday – a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates – the hundreds of ceasefire violations echo the failed truce of the previous year. For Ukrainians, the continued bombardment confirms that Moscow is using the humanitarian gesture as a “PR stunt” while maintaining its military objectives on the ground.
With the ceasefire due to expire at the end of Sunday, Ukrainian forces remain on high alert, adhering to the mirror-response policy articulated by Zelensky: “The absence of Russian strikes... will mean no response from our side.”