Ukraine, Russia fight on despite US-mediated ceasefire
Russia and Ukraine have reported fighting on long front lines despite a US-brokered ceasefire, and each accuses the other of launching drone and artillery strikes.
Ukraine and Russia agreed Friday to a ceasefire from Saturday to Monday as part of a U.S.-led peace effort under President Donald Trump after more than four years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Trump said Friday he hoped the ceasefire would be extended, but the ceasefire was already showing signs of tension on Sunday when each side accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Moscow has refrained from large-scale air and missile strikes, but attacks continue along the 1,200 km front line where Russian forces are advancing.
He said Ukrainian troops responded and held their positions.
Russian state news agencies reported Monday that the Russian Defense Ministry said 23,802 ceasefire violations had been recorded by Ukraine since the beginning of the ceasefire.
According to the ministry, Russian troops responded in kind to Ukraine’s attacks on rocket launchers, artillery and drone launch sites.
One person was killed and three others were injured in a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s southern Belgorod region, the regional governor said Monday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian army said that 180 battlefield clashes were recorded on the front line in the last 24 hours.
In an update on Monday morning, it was stated that Russian forces deployed “kamikaze” drones and artillery in attacks on settlements and military positions on Sunday.
In its report on Monday afternoon, the General Staff stated that Russian troops launched 38 new attacks on Ukrainian positions, adding: “Artillery bombardment of the border areas continues.”
Regional governors in Ukraine reported early Monday that at least three people had been killed in the last 24 hours in the southeastern Zaporizhia and southern Kherson regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he thought the war was over and would be willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe with Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as his preferred partner.
But European Union foreign ministers arriving for a meeting in Brussels on Monday rejected Putin’s proposal, expressing doubts that Russia was ready to end the war and sincerely negotiate peace and security for Europe.
