Easter ceasefire declared by Russia expires

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. The Easter ceasefire declared by Russia from 4:00 p.m. Moscow time (1:00 p.m. GMT) on April 11 until midnight (9:00 p.m. GMT) on April 12 has expired. The Kremlin announced on April 9 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the ceasefire for the Easter holiday. Vladimir Zelensky later said Ukraine was ready to act in a reciprocal manner. However, on April 12, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian army had carried out three overnight attacks on Russian forces near Gai and Otradnoye in the Dnepropetrovsk Region in violation of the ceasefire. The attacks were repelled. Russian forces also thwarted four Ukrainian attempts to take up positions in the Sumy Region and in the Donetsk People’s Republic. From 4:00 p.m. Moscow time, or 1:00 p.m. GMT, on April 11 until 8:00 a.m. Moscow time, or 5:00 a.m. GMT, on April 12, a total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by Ukrainian troops were recorded, the ministry added. According to the ministry, the Ukrainian army attacked Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions with two drones, injuring civilians, including a child. The ministry also reported that Ukrainian troops had shelled Russian border areas and positions 258 times using multiple rocket launchers and tanks and had carried out 1,329 FPV drone strikes. In line with the supreme commander-in-chief’s order, all Russian battlegroups in the zone of the special military operation strictly observed the ceasefire from 1:00 p.m. GMT on April 11 and remained at their previously held positions, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.