Putin bombards Ukraine minutes after 'Easter truce' ends - as Trump says he hopes for peace deal 'this week'
by Henry Moore · LBCBy Henry Moore
Air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine this morning as Russia launched a massive wave of strikes to mark an end to its so-called “Easter truce.”
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The first sirens sounded just moments after Vladimir Putin’s 30-hour truce came to an end.
Drone strikes hit the eastern city of Mykolaiv, and sirens could be heard across the capital of Kyiv, officials reported on Monday morning.
“We urge city residents to immediately go to the nearest shelters and remain there until the alert is over,” Kyiv’s military administration said in the early hours of Monday morning.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Putin’s ceasefire was nothing more than a “PR exercise” and, in reality, Russia hit Ukraine “more than 2,000 times” during the “Easter truce.”
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Taking to social media shortly after 7.30pm on Sunday evening, Zelenskyy announced that "as of this hour, since the beginning of the day, the Russian army has violated Putin’s ceasefire more than two thousand times.
"There have already been 67 Russian assaults against our positions across various directions, with the highest number in the Pokrovsk direction... across all main frontline directions, Russia has failed to uphold its own promise of ceasefire.
"And almost an entire day wasn’t enough for Russia to respond to our Ukrainian proposal for a full ceasefire."
Taking to social media on Sunday, Zelenskyy continued: "However, there were no air raid alerts today. Hence, this is a format of ceasefire that has been achieved and that is the easiest to extend.
"Ukraine proposes to cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days, with the possibility of extension.
"If Russia does not agree to such a step, it will be proof that it intends to continue doing only those things which destroy human lives and prolong the war.
This continued aggression comes after President Donald Trump said he hopes Russia and Ukraine "will make a deal this week."
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Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: “HOPEFULLY RUSSIA AMD UKRAINE WILL MAKE A DEAL THIS WEEK. BOTH WILL THEN START TO DO BIG BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH IS THRIVING, AND MAKE A FORTUNE!”
Last month, Ukraine accepted a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire - but Russia rejected the terms outright.
In recent days, the US has threatened to “walk away” from peace talks if a deal can’t be agreed soon.
Marco Rubio claimed on Friday that the White House would "walk away" from attempts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine failing any further progress.
Asked whether the claim was accurate, Trump asserted he would abandon attempts "very shortly" if a deal could not be reached.
"How many days is that?" one reporter asked him from the White House.
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"No specific number of days. But quickly, we want to get it done," Trump responded.
Asked whether Russia was playing the US, the president added: "Nobody is playing me. I'm trying to help."
He added "we have a really good chance" of getting a deal.
"It's coming to a head right now," he added on Friday.
"Now, if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say, 'You're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people,' and we're going to just take a pass."
Adding: "But hopefully, we won't have to do that."
Asked if he was prepared to walk away altogether from US efforts to broker a deal, Trump added: "Well, I don't want to say that, but we want to see it end."