Moscow accuses Ukrainian forces of breaking Easter ceasefire

Russia has charged Ukrainian forces with continuing their attacks despite a ceasefire announced for Easter by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The attacks, in the Donetsk region among other areas, had been warded off, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said.

The ministry said there had been dozens of drone attacks and that hundreds of artillery shells had been fired overnight by the Ukrainian side. The attacks had targeted the border regions of Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod, among others, it said.

"There are deaths and injuries among the peaceful population and damage to civilian buildings," the ministry statement said. Details of casualties were not given.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian forces of breaking the ceasefire that Moscow itself proposed. Moscow was "attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire, while in some areas still continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine," Zelensky wrote on the social media platform X.

The information from either side could not be independently verified.