The sounds of rockets and drones woke up Kiev and the eastern half of Ukraine on Monday, after the ceasefire announced for Easter by President Vladimir Putin ended.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Moscow launched 96 drones and three missiles during the night-time attacks, causing damage in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions. The port city of Mykolaiv was hit by several missiles. Air defense units said they shot down 42 drones, while 47 others were redirected by electronic warfare equipment.
There were no reports of injuries or major damage, Kiev officials said on social media. Both Ukraine and Russia accused each other of violating a 30-hour ceasefire, which the Kremlin has refused to extend. Washington has said it would welcome an extension, and President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly reiterated Kiev's willingness to suspend attacks for 30 days.
But Putin, who unexpectedly announced a pause in military activities along the war fronts until midnight on Sunday, did not order an extension. "There are no other orders," the Russian news agency Tass quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky announced in the early hours of Monday that his forces had been instructed to continue to respond reciprocally to Russia's actions. "The nature of Ukraine's actions will remain symmetrical; we will respond to a ceasefire with a ceasefire, while Russia's attacks will be met with our defense. Actions always speak louder than words," he said on the social network X. (A2 Televizion)
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