MOSCOW/KYIV, April 11 (Reuters) – Russia and Ukraine on Saturday accused each other of violating a brief ceasefire in their four-year-old war hours into the truce put in place to mark Orthodox Easter.
Governors of two Russian border regions said Ukrainian drones had attacked targets in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, injuring five people.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had violated the terms of the 32-hour truce 469 times, including assault actions, shelling and drone strikes.
The ceasefire, announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, went into effect at 4 p.m. Moscow time (1300 GMT). His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he would abide by it.
Reuters could not independently verify reports of military activity.
The ceasefire was put in place as U.S.-led negotiations to reach a settlement have been halted amid the war in the Middle East. U.S. and Iranian negotiators were meeting in Pakistan on Saturday to try to end their six-week-old war.
According to the calendar of the Orthodox faith, which is dominant in both Russia and Ukraine, Easter is celebrated this year on Sunday.
Russian news agencies said Putin attended services after midnight at Moscow’s vast Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
In his Easter greeting, quoted by agencies, Putin described Easter as the “triumph of love, good and justice”. He also expressed thanks to Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for his support of those fighting in Russia’s military campaign, described as a “special military operation”.
“I would like especially to note the effective assistance you provide to our heroes – the participants and veterans of the special military operation,” he wrote.
Alexander Khinshtein, governor of Russia’s Kursk border region, wrote on the state-backed messenger service MAX that a Ukrainian drone had struck a petrol station in the town of Lgov, injuring three people, including a child.
Khinshtein said the attack took place after the start of the truce.
In the adjacent Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said two people were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks.
Gladkov, writing on Telegram, said a man and woman were injured in attacks in Shebekino and Grayvoron, two small towns just inside the border. He also said Ukrainian forces had shelled Shebekino, damaging homes and other buildings.
A local Russia-installed official in a part of southern Kherson region held by Moscow also reported on social media that a Ukrainian drone attack had injured one person.
MUTUAL ACCUSATIONS
The Ukrainian General Staff, in a late evening report on front-line activity, said it had counted 469 ceasefire infringements since 1300 GMT.
“Specifically, 22 enemy assault actions, 153 shelling incidents, 19 strikes by attack drones … and 275 strikes by (First-Person View) drones.”
During a similar 30-hour Easter ceasefire agreed last year, each side accused the other of infringements.
Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, made no reference to alleged ceasefire violations. He repeated that Ukraine would stick to the truce and wished it could be in effect longer.
“It would be right for the ceasefire to continue beyond this,” Zelenskiy said.
“We have made this proposal to Russia and if Russia once again chooses war instead of peace, it will show the world, and particularly the United States, who truly wants what.”
Zelenskiy has proposed a halt to fighting on a number of occasions, but has been turned down by Moscow, which says it is seeking an overall settlement.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Jane Merriman, Paul Simao, Alistair Bell and Ron Popeski)
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