Ukraine's Zelenskiy says Russian troops “try to create impressions” Easter ceasefire

(Reuters) – Russian troops are pretending to be Easter ceasefire announced by President Vladimir Putin, continuing overnight attempts to cause damage to Ukraine on the frontline, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.

“In general, as of Easter morning, we could say that the Russian army was trying to make a general impression of the ceasefire, but in some places it did not give up on personal efforts and caused losses to Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said in an article on social media.

Putin announced a surprise of a one-day ceasefire just hours before heading to serve the Orthodox Easter late Saturday, ordering his troops to “stop all military activities” in the three-year war.

In the United States, it could abandon peace talks within a few days unless Moscow and Keeff show that they take the negotiations seriously.

Putin said the fight was stopped at 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) from Saturday to Sunday evening.

But Zelenskiy said there were hundreds of shelling instances Saturday night. He said earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian troops reported 59 shelling incidents and five attacks from frontline attacks.

“Russia must fully comply with the conditions of silence,” Zelensky said.

He reiterated that Kiev was willing to extend the ceasefire for 30 days, but said that if Russia continues to fight on Sunday, Ukraine will do so.

“Ukraine will continue to act in a mirror manner,” he said.

(Reported by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Edited by William Mallard)