Russia-Ukraine Easter Truce Collapses Within Hours

Russia's 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire collapsed almost immediately after taking effect Saturday, with Ukraine's military command logging 469 violations by late evening, including 153 shelling attacks, 275 FPV drone strikes, 22 assault actions, and 19 attack drone strikes. The Kremlin had announced the truce window running from 4pm local time Saturday through end of day Sunday, following Putin's order issued Thursday, more than a week after Zelensky first proposed the pause. Russia's Kursk Governor Alexander Khinshtein simultaneously accused Ukraine of striking a gas station in Lgov with a drone, injuring three people including a baby, illustrating that both sides traded blame even as Ukrainian tallies dominated the incident count. The breakdown mirrors last Easter's ceasefire, which also collapsed amid mutual accusations of hundreds of violations. Zelensky used his Saturday address to call for an extended ceasefire and framed Russia's response as a signal to Washington. Against that backdrop, broader diplomacy remains frozen: US-led peace talks have stalled in recent weeks, and the core territorial dispute, Russia demanding full Donetsk control, Ukraine proposing a front-line freeze, remains unresolved. The two sides did exchange 175 prisoners of war each, plus 14 civilians, suggesting narrow humanitarian coordination persists even as the military track deteriorates.