Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of choosing “Easter escalation” over an Easter ceasefire after Russia carried out another deadly large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine.
Six civilians were killed and 40 others injured as Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles across the country.
Major daytime attacks, which were once rare, have been increasing.
It’s happening as efforts to end the war, led by the US, have stalled since US President Donald Trump and his team shifted focus to the conflict in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Zelensky agreed with a British intelligence assessment that the situation on the frontline in the east was the “most favourable” for Ukraine in 10 months, as the advance of Russian troops appears to have slowed.
But there has been no let-up in the air raids.
In the Zhytomyr region, west of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, rescuers had to search for survivors beneath the rubble of their homes as a whole line of houses was destroyed.
In the Kyiv region, a drone was filmed careering towards a block of flats, then slamming into its side, starting a fire.
In Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, a woman was killed and other people were critically injured in a day of strikes the mayor called “one of the biggest” on the city so far.
Zelensky described the barrage as Russia’s response to his proposal of a temporary truce for the holidays: Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter next weekend both in Ukraine and in Russia.
“The Russians have only intensified their strikes, turning what should have been silence in the skies into an Easter escalation,” he wrote on X.
In recent days, Ukraine has launched multiple deep strikes of its own, targeting energy facilities on the northern coast of Russia in particular. One port, in Ust-Luga, has been hit by drones multiple times, forcing Russia to suspend exports.
Zelensky said the offer of a holiday truce was still on the table if Moscow agreed, and that message had been passed on in a call to Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Plans for further in-person talks with Russia, mediated by the US, have now been postponed twice. Moscow says they are “on hold”.
Zelensky said Trump’s team were welcome to come to Kyiv, then shuttle to Moscow, to keep the peace process alive.
But there are doubts over whether Moscow is really looking for a deal as the global context has shifted in its favour.
For Ukraine, the potential scarcity of fuel and surge in prices caused by the war on Iran is a worry: its own frontline troops need large amounts of diesel for their tanks and vehicles.
