Russian attacks during Easter ceasefire declared by Putin killed 3 in Ukraine’s Kherson region

An elderly woman prepares her Easter baskets to be blessed during celebration of the Orthodox Easter in Krasne village, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire unilaterally declared by President Vladimir Putin over the weekend killed three people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a regional official said Monday.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of Kherson’s administration, wrote on Telegram that the casualties occurred over the last 24 hours, adding that three others were wounded in the region, parts of which are occupied by Russia.

After Putin declared the move on Saturday, Ukraine responded by voicing readiness to reciprocate any genuine ceasefire but said the Russian attacks continued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia violated the ceasefire more than 2,900 times.

Zelenskyy said that Russian forces carried out 96 assault operations along the front line, shelled Ukrainian positions more than 1,800 times and used hundreds of drones during the course of the ceasefire. “The nature of Ukrainian actions will continue to be mirror-like: we will respond to silence with silence, and our blows will be a defense against Russian blows. Actions always speak louder than words,” he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, listed 4,900 Ukrainian violations of the ceasefire. It charged that Moscow’s forces “strictly observed the ceasefire and remained at previously occupied lines and positions.”

Speaking Monday, Putin said that the fighting resumed after the ceasefire expired at midnight (2100 GMT). Commenting on Zelenskyy’s call for a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire or, at least, a halt on strikes on civilian facilities, the Russian leader noted that Kyiv was trying to “seize the initiative,” adding that “we must think about it, carefully assess everything and look at the results of the ceasefire.”

The Russian leader has previously made a full ceasefire conditional on halting Western arms supplies to Kyiv and Ukraine’s mobilization effort -- demands rejected by Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia would inform “all the interested parties” about the Ukrainian violations of the ceasefire.

Peskov said that Russia “remains open to searching for a peaceful settlement and is continuing to work with the American side,” adding that “we certainly hope that this work will produce results.”

Asked if there is a proposal from the U.S. that Kyiv recognize Crimea that Moscow annexed in 2014 as part of Russia, President Donald Trump responded that “I will be giving you a full detail over the next three days,” adding that “we had very good meetings on Ukraine, Russia.”

Zelenskyy has firmly ruled out the recognition of any temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian.

On Monday, the Ukrainian president spoke to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of Wednesday’s talks between Ukrainian, British, French and U.S. officials in London.

“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy said on X. “An unconditional ceasefire must be the first step toward peace, and this Easter made it clear that it is Russia’s actions that are prolonging the war.”

Overnight into Monday, the Russian forces fired three missiles at Ukraine’s southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, as well as 96 Shahed drones targeting other parts of the country, Ukraine’s Air Force reported. It said it downed 42 drones, while 47 others were jammed mid-flight.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drones sparked a fire at an “outbuilding” and a “food enterprise,” regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram. No one was injured in the attack, he said. An unspecified infrastructure object was damaged in the Cherkasy region overnight, regional head Ihor Taburets said on Telegram.

Four civilians also sustained injuries in the partially occupied Donetsk region, according to regional head Vadym Filashkin, who said that the Russian forces shelled settlements in the region five times over the last 24 hours.

Illia Novikov, The Associated Press

Chris Megerian contributed to this report from Washington.