Summary

  1. Minsk agreements: a failed attempt at peace in Ukrainepublished at 09:14 British Summer Time

    On Sunday, an Odesa-based security analyst said told the BBC that Ukraine had 11 years of ceasefires with Russia in the Minsk agreements and that "none of them have really been fulfilled".

    But what are the Minsk agreements about?

    In 2014, fighting was ongoing between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

    A fragile peace deal was eventually reached, named after the capital of Belarus, where it was signed.

    Minsk 1

    The first agreement, known as Minsk 1, was reached in September 2014. It included prisoner exchanges and the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

    But Minsk 1 quickly collapsed, with both sides accused of violations.

    Minsk 2

    This led to a second agreement, Minsk 2, signed in February 2015.

    It called for an immediate ceasefire in Donetsk and Luhansk, and full Ukrainian government control of the state border, among other points.

    Agreements end

    Just before the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin brought an end to the Minsk agreements by recognising Donetsk and Luhansk as independent. He called it a “long overdue decision” and sent Russian troops in.

  2. Russia strictly observed Easter truce, defence ministry sayspublished at 09:02 British Summer Time

    Russia's defence ministry says the country's military "strictly observed the ceasefire and remained at the previously occupied lines and positions".

    As a reminder, the 30-hour "Easter truce", called by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, expired at midnight on Sunday local time.

    The ministry says Ukraine "continued to conduct" military operations in the border areas of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions. They claim that in total, "4,900 ceasefire violations were recorded".

    Russia's defence ministry add that "the intensity of Ukraine's fire and combat operations on the entire front line was significantly reduced".

    Russia says that they have now resumed their military operations, as Ukraine's military report Russian drone attacks on several regions overnight.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops had violated the ceasefire nearly 3,000 times since the start of Sunday.

  3. Which areas in Ukraine does Russia control?published at 08:46 British Summer Time

    Fighting has been raging in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

    Russian forces have slowly been expanding the amount of territory they control over the past year, mostly in the east of Ukraine.

    Map of Ukraine with areas of Russian control in the east highlighted in red

    Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in Russia's Kursk region last year but its forces have largely had to retreat since then.

    President Zelensky also publicly acknowledged for the first time earlier this month that Ukrainian troops are active in Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

  4. Accusations of 'truce' violations continue from Ukrainepublished at 08:27 British Summer Time

    Vitaliy Shevchenko
    Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

    More reports are coming in from Ukraine suggesting that the fighting did not stop despite the "Easter truce" announced by the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Ukraine's general staff says Russia lost 670 military personnel on Easter Sunday, as well as two tanks, two armoured fighting vehicles and 10 artillery systems.

    In the front-line Zaporizhzhia region, the head of the local administration, Ivan Fedorov, says Russia carried out 108 drone strikes and 25 artillery attacks over Easter.

  5. Thirty-hour pause followed Trump's threat to pull out of peace talkspublished at 08:03 British Summer Time

    Ian Aikman
    Live reporter

    Donald Trump, in a blue suit and yellow tie, in front of a yellow curtain and a US flag in the Oval Office.Image source, Reuters

    Moscow's announcement of a now-expired "Easter truce" came one day after US President Donald Trump threatened to abandon peace-making efforts in Ukraine.

    Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday, the US president said he would "pass" on brokering a ceasefire if Russia and Ukraine "make it very difficult" to reach a peace deal soon.

    The US State Department said yesterday it would welcome the "Easter truce" being extended beyond Sunday, according to the Reuters news agency. It was not, and both sides have accused the other of breaching it during the 30-hour window.

    Trump himself has not directly commented on the truce, but in a social media post yesterday he said he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would "make a deal this week" so they can both "do big business" with the US.

    The US president had said before he re-entered office that he would stop the fighting in Ukraine in the first 24 hours of his presidency. He has since blamed both sides for failing to reach a peace agreement.

    The Kremlin might be hoping its announcement tells the US that it is Russia, not Ukraine, that is committed to peace, writes the BBC's Steve Rosenberg.

  6. Russia launches volley of air strikes overnight, Ukrainian air force sayspublished at 07:48 British Summer Time

    Russia launched 96 drones and three missiles overnight into the early hours of Monday, hitting the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions, the Ukrainian air force says.

    Air defence units shot down 42 drones in "the east, north, south and centre of the country", while 47 "were lost in location (without negative consequences)", it writes in a post on the messaging app Telegram.

    The air force does not give any details on the missiles except to say that one targeted Kherson and two were aimed at Mykolaiv.

  7. What was the 'Easter truce' and what happened?published at 07:18 British Summer Time

    Basket filled with Easter cakes and candlesImage source, Getty Images

    In a surprise announcement on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there would be an "Easter truce", with a pause on all fighting from 16:00 BST on Saturday until 22:00 BST on Sunday (midnight in Moscow).

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to a pause, adding that Ukraine would "mirror" Russia's actions.

    But hours into the so-called pause in fighting, Zelensky said there had been multiple Russian attacks, and several more on Easter Sunday.

    Likewise, Russia's defence ministry said Kyiv had launched drone attacks hundreds of times, media sources reported.

    The 30-hour truce came after the US threatened to pass on brokering further Russia-Ukraine peace talks. Last month, the US proposed an initial 30-day ceasefire, which was accepted by Kyiv, but not Moscow, who came back with multiple conditions.

    • You can watch the moment Putin declared the temporary ceasefire on Saturday in this short clip:
  8. Analysis

    Reports of fighting continuing after 'Easter truce' expirespublished at 07:11 British Summer Time

    James Waterhouse
    Ukraine correspondent in Mykolayiv

    Hours after a one-day Easter ceasefire, declared by Russia, finished last night, there were air alerts across eastern Ukraine and the central Kyiv region.

    Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of breaking the truce thousands of times. Washington said it hoped it would have been extended beyond 30 hours.

    There were blasts recorded in the southern city of Mykolayiv, where I am now. This part of southern Ukraine was in a minority of areas that saw a relative respite in fighting after Vladimir Putin suddenly announced an Easter truce.

    Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said his troops would always mirror Russia’s actions, and claimed Moscow had violated its own ceasefire almost 3,000 times and instead readied its forces for future assaults. There were continued artillery and drone strikes reported in the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk.

    However, under pressure from the White House to pursue peace, Ukraine’s leader did propose a new, longer ceasefire on long-range missile and drone attacks, as there were no air raid alerts across Sunday, which is extremely rare.

    It’s not clear if the Kremlin, which said it had no plans to extend the truce, will accept.

    US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, says he hopes Russia and Ukraine will make a peace deal this week.

    “They can both start to do business with the US, which is thriving, and make a fortune!” he declared.

  9. Ukraine military reports Russian drone attacks on several regionspublished at 07:07 British Summer Time

    Jack Burgess
    Live page editor

    Welcome back to our live coverage following the war in Ukraine.

    Air raid alerts have been issued in Ukraine's capital city Kyiv, as well as Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia.

    Although air raid alerts are pretty common in Ukraine since Putin launched his full-scale invasion in February 2022, today's alerts come after a 30-hour "Easter truce", which was surprisingly announced by the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. This expired at midnight on Sunday Moscow time (22:00 BST).

    There have also been reports of blasts in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

    Russia's military is yet to comment on the reported attacks.

    Yesterday, Ukraine and Russia both claimed that the temporary ceasefire had been broken by the other side.

    However, our Ukrainian correspondent James Waterhouse in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson reported that it had been quieter on the front line yesterday:

    Media caption,

    'You can hear birdsong': BBC Ukraine correspondent reports from Kherson during Easter truce

    I'm here in our London newsroom at Broadcasting House with my colleagues Thomas Spender, Ian Aikman and Hafsa Khalil.

    We'll bring you the latest updates as we get them and analysis from our colleagues in Ukraine and Russia.