Zelenskyy calls for 30-day pause in Russian strikes on civilian targets

Ukraine proposes that Russia abandon drone and missile strikes on civilian infrastructure for at least 30 days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.

“As of this hour, since the beginning of the day, the Russian army has violated Putin’s ceasefire more than two thousand times. There have already been 67 Russian assaults against our positions across various directions, with the highest number in the Pokrovsk direction. There were a total of 1,355 cases of Russian shelling, 713 of which involved heavy weaponry. If Russia does not agree to such a step, it will be proof that it intends to continue doing only those things which destroy human lives and prolong the war,” Zelenskyy said on X.

A report by Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi as of 8:00 p.m. on Easter Day.

As of this hour, since the beginning of the day, the Russian army has violated Putin’s ceasefire more than two thousand times. There have already been 67 Russian assaults against our positions across various…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 20, 2025

Zelenskyy accused Russia on Sunday of creating a false appearance of honoring an Easter ceasefire, saying Moscow continued to launch attacks after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce. In later updates, Zelenskyy said that despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, “the trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues.” He said, however, that it was “a good thing, at least, that there were no air raid sirens.”

The Russian defence ministry said its troops had “strictly observed the ceasefire”.

Moscow said it had “repelled” assaults by Ukraine and accused Kyiv of launching hundreds of drones and shells, causing civilian casualties.

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“Despite the announcement of the Easter truce, Ukrainian units at night made attempts to attack” Russia’s positions in the Donetsk region, its defence ministry added.

Putin’s order to halt all combat over the Easter weekend came after months of efforts by US President Donald Trump to get the war rivals to agree to a ceasefire. However, on Friday, Trump threatened to withdraw from talks if no progress was made.

With inputs from agencies