Russia, Ukraine accuse each other of violating Orthodox Easter ceasefire

Russia and Ukraine on Sunday traded accusations over violating a 32-hour ceasefire that began a day prior on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter holiday.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a statement that it recorded a total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by Ukraine between the start of the truce until 8 am Moscow time (0500GMT).

It added that there were multiple nighttime attacks by Ukrainian troops on Russian positions in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy and Donetsk regions.

Ukraine's General Staff claimed in a separate statement that it recorded 2,299 ceasefire violations by Russia in the same period, accusing Moscow of 28 front-line assaults, 479 cases of shelling, 747 strikes using kamikaze drones, and 1,045 strikes using first-person view drones.

The 32-hour ceasefire came into effect at 1300GMT on Saturday, though both sides accused each other of breaches just hours into the truce.

Independent verification of the claims is difficult due to the ongoing war, which entered its fifth year in February.