{"id":134432,"date":"2025-04-20T16:30:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T16:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-easter-truce-words-from-putin-have-proven-empty-zelenskyy-raf-intercepted-russian-jets-uk-confirms-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T16:30:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T16:30:03","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-easter-truce-words-from-putin-have-proven-empty-zelenskyy-raf-intercepted-russian-jets-uk-confirms-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-easter-truce-words-from-putin-have-proven-empty-zelenskyy-raf-intercepted-russian-jets-uk-confirms-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: 'Easter truce' words from Putin have 'proven empty' – Zelenskyy; RAF intercepted Russian jets, UK confirms – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Vladimir Putin’s declaration of a 30-hour “Easter truce” yesterday has “proven empty” after Russian attacks on Easter Sunday. Elsewhere, the UK has confirmed RAF jets intercepted Russian planes to defend NATO airspace this week. Follow the latest below.
Sunday 20 April 2025 17:27, UK
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We’ve just brought you comments from the Kremlin indicating there will not be an extension to Vladimir Putin’s “Easter truce”.
It’s due to end at 10pm UK time, but the pause never really seemed to get off the ground.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of violating the 30-hour pause, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisting Ukraine would mirror Russia’s actions.
But the Ukrainian president also called for a longer 30-day pause to “give peace a chance” – and it’s not the first time it has been suggested.
Ukraine agreed to a US proposal of an unconditional 30-day ceasefire last month, with US secretary of state Marco Rubio stating the ball was in Russia’s court.
But Putin outlined a series of “questions” regarding the proposal, and went on to lay down his own demands.
Watch Putin’s response to a 30-day ceasefire proposal last month<\/b>
However, there was an agreed 30-day pause on all strikes targeting energy infrastructure between both Ukraine and Russia.
Based on public statements, both countries appeared to agree to the moratorium, but within a few days Kyiv and Moscow traded accusations that the other side had not adhered to the ceasefire.
The agreement expired on 18 April and was not renewed.
There were also proposals for a ceasefire in the Black Sea. Ukraine viewed the deal as immediate but Russia insisted it would only start when certain sanctions on Russian firms were lifted. 
As a result, it was another ceasefire that never really started – despite the Trump administration claiming a diplomatic win.
Vladimir Putin has not ordered to extend his Easter ceasefire, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
The comments reported by Russian news agency Tass come just hours before Putin’s 30-hour “Easter truce” is due to expire.
Russia’s president vowed to pause “all military operations” from 4pm UK time yesterday until 10pm UK time tonight – but both sides have since accused each other of violations.
Last night, Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the proposal to be extended, claiming 30 hours was “enough to make headlines, but not for genuine confidence-building measures”.
He added that a 30-day pause “could give peace a chance”.
Vladimir Putin’s “Easter truce” announcement is an example of Russia trying to portray itself as an agreeable negotiating partner in response to recent US threats, analysts have said.
Earlier this week, Donald Trump said the US would “take a pass” on brokering peace talks between Russia and Ukraine if either side “makes it very difficult”.
Those comments came after his secretary of state Marco Rubio said that the US was going to “move on” from brokering peace unless there are clear signs of progress in the coming days.
But analysts at the Institute for the Study of War have said Putin’s declaration likely came as a direct response to those remarks.
“Russia is likely leveraging its unilateral implementation of a temporary truce in Ukraine to introduce informational conditions that will act as a pretext to support Russia’s continued efforts to undermine and discredit Ukraine,” they said.
The campaign assessment added that Russia is likely attempting to “curry favour” with the United States in response to the Trump administration’s comments.
Earlier today, we showed you how Ukrainians are doing what they can to celebrate their fourth Easter period while at war with Russia (see 7.43am post).
The occasion has also been marked on the frontline in Donetsk, with pictures showing a military chaplain spraying holy water on servicemen.
Soldiers also attended a service in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russian forces targeted a Ukrainian volunteer’s vehicle while he was evacuating civilians in Russian-controlled Donetsk, according to reports.
The Kyiv Independent<\/a> reports that volunteer Yevhen Tkachov was evacuating civilians from the village of Zoria when they were targeted by three first-person-view (FPV) drones.
“I turned on the emergency lights, got out of the car, and started waving my arms around to show that I was a civilian,” he told Ukrainska Pravda<\/a>.
“Despite that, the drone struck just half a metre from my car. I motioned for the two cars behind me to go ahead, but I couldn’t drive myself anymore because my car wouldn’t start.”
In a statement this morning, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the number of FPV drones used by Russia has increased twofold during Vladimir Putin’s proposed Easter ceasefire (see 11.09am post).
We also brought you an update earlier this morning after several explosions were heard in Donetsk (see 9.34am post).
The TASS state news agency, citing local “operative services”, said at least three blasts were heard in the city, which has been under Russia’s control since 2014. 
Another update to bring you now from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who says Vladimir Putin’s words about a ceasefire have “proven empty”.
Ukraine’s president has shared another report from commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, which notes that the “trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues”.
From the start of today, the report says there have been a total of 46 Russian assaults “across various directions” and 901 instances of shelling, 448 of which involved heavy weaponry. 
More than 400 cases of first-person-view (FPV) drone use by Russians have already been documented, it adds.
It also says Ukrainian troops fell into a Russian ambush in Toretsk, with some servicemen killed. Zelenskyy says the Russian soldiers responsible “will be eliminated”.
The latest update repeats the message that Ukraine will respond to Russia’s actions in a “fully symmetrical manner” – something Zelenskyy said in response to Putin’s truce announcement yesterday.
“The situation on the frontline shows that pressure on Moscow and real oversight of the actions of the occupying forces are needed for the ceasefire to be established.”
Vladimir Putin said Russia would cease “all military operations” for 30 hours when he announced his “Easter truce” yesterday – but that never seemed to get off the ground.
Kyiv said it would mirror Moscow’s actions, with “silence in response to silence” and “defensive strikes in response to attacks”, but both sides have been accusing the other of violating the pause in fighting.
So, how have those accusations unfolded?
We brought you details of a message Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared this morning looking ahead to a day when all Ukrainians can share a “peaceful Easter” together (see 7.16am post).
In a video posted on his personal channels, Zelenskyy pays tribute to the faith of Ukrainians, which he says has not faded for 1,152 days of the full-scale war.
Watch the Ukrainian president’s Easter message in the video below.
We reported this morning that RAF fighter jets were scrambled earlier this week to defend NATO airspace from Russian warplanes (see 9.40am post).
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has since confirmed the news. It says two Typhoons were scrambled from Malbork air base in Poland on 15 April to intercept a Russian intelligence aircraft over the Baltic Sea.
It adds that, on 17 April, another two Typhoons scrambled from the base to intercept an unknown aircraft leaving Kaliningrad airspace, close to NATO airspace.
It’s the first time that the RAF has been called into action under Operation Chessman, a new NATO mission to bolster Europe’s air defences, involving cooperation between Polish, Swedish and British forces.
Shortly after Vladimir Putin’s “Easter truce” was announced yesterday, Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds of prisoners in the war’s largest exchange so far.
A total of 277 Ukrainians returned from Russian captivity – a figure which includes 31 wounded prisoners of war transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian servicemen in need of urgent medical care.
Russia’s defence ministry said 246 Russian servicemen were returned in total.
Watch a clip of the exchange below…
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