Three Russian regions have been targeted by Ukraine since the announcement of the ceasefire, a senior diplomat has said
Ukraine has committed multiple violations of the Easter truce agreed by Moscow and Kiev, Rodion Miroshnik, a senior diplomat at the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a pause in hostilities from 6:00pm Moscow on Saturday and last until midnight on Monday. He instructed the country’s military to stay on high alert and be ready “to respond to any violations or provocations.”
Hours later Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky responded that Kiev’s forces “will act in a reciprocal way.”
However on Sunday, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large overseeing investigations of war crimes, announced that “Kiev violated the Easter truce.”
Ukrainian forces attacked a suburb of the town of Kremennaya in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic overnight, he said.
On Sunday morning, the town of Gorlovka in Donetsk People’s Republic was targeted with four 155mm shells, Miroshnik claimed. There were also attempts to attack the regional capital, Donetsk, he added.
In Kherson Region, the settlements of Aleshki, Golaya Pristan and Kakhovka were hit by drones and mortars after the truce took effect, Miroshnik said.
More reports of violations of the Easter ceasefire by Kiev are coming in, according to the diplomat.
Putin accepted his US counterpart Donald Trump’s proposal to introduce a 30-day pause on strikes targeting energy facilities operated by Kiev and Moscow, during a phone call on March 18.
Zelensky also said at the time that his country would abide by the truce. However, the Russian Defense Ministry has been reporting daily Ukrainian violations of the partial ceasefire since.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the energy infrastructure truce had expired and that there had been no orders to prolong it from the Russian president.
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