Russia resumes attacks on Ukraine after Easter truce

KYIV - Russia launched aerial attacks at Ukraine on Monday in an abrupt end to a fragile Easter truce, while President Vladimir Putin raised questions over Kyiv's offer of a month-long halt to strikes on civilian targets.

The new attacks cast doubt on US President Donald Trump's hopes for a broader ceasefire between the two sides, hours after he said a "deal" could be struck this week.

"Military action has resumed," Putin told state TV, after Ukrainian officials reported a wave of overnight drone and artillery strikes following the partially observed 30-hour truce.

Each side had accused the other of thousands of violations of the ceasefire, which Putin ordered on Saturday.

"But overall, there was a fall in such activity," Putin said, after listing alleged Ukrainian violations.

"We welcome this and are ready to look to the future."

President Volodymyr Zelensky had welcomed the ceasefire, while warning Ukraine's military would respond "symmetrically" to whatever Russian forces did.

Kyiv officials have accused Putin of seeking a propaganda victory by proposing the truce -- which came hours after Trump threatened to walk away from efforts to secure peace in the three-year war if he did not see progress.

Welcoming a day without air raid alerts across the country, Zelensky on Sunday proposed a followup that would "cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days."

ZELENSKY EXPECTS 'CLEAR ANSWER'

Putin said Russia would "analyse" the idea, but questioned how it would work as he accused Ukraine of using civilian buildings such as restaurants and universities for military purposes.

In rare comments on a specific Russian strike, he claimed Ukraine had been using a university building in Sumy for a military awards ceremony on April 13, when two Russian ballistic missiles hit the city centre, killing at least 35 people.

"Is it a civilian facility or not? But the regime is using these civilian facilities," Putin said.

"We need to figure this out," he said, adding he did not exclude bilateral talks with Ukraine on the issue.

"We will analyse everything and take the corresponding decisions," he said.

Late Monday, Zelensky called on Russia to give a "clear answer" to the ceasefire proposal.

"Ukraine maintains its proposal not to strike at least civilian infrastructure. And we expect a clear answer from Moscow. We are ready for any conversation on how to ensure this," he said.

A Ukrainian delegation is due in London Wednesday for ceasefire talks with Britain, France and the United States, he said, on X.

"We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible," he added.

Ukrainian officials earlier reported drone and missile strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

Ukraine's air force said it had downed 42 Russian attack drones in an overnight attack hours after the end of the Easter truce, when both sides reported a dip in fighting.- Trump's 'hopes' -

Ukrainian military personnel in eastern Ukraine told AFP they welcomed the brief respite, but did not hold out hope of a longer-term truce.

Viktor Danylchuk, a military instructor, said he welcomed that he "could spend time with his family in peace."

But he thought any more such agreements were "impossible" because "the enemy keeps attacking."

Putin's ceasefire declaration came after Trump said Friday he would end US efforts to halt the war unless the two sides moved towards an accord.

The US president expressed hope Sunday that the two sides could quickly strike an agreement, though he did not elaborate.

"Hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week," he said on his Truth Social platform.

Trump last month tabled a proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, which Ukraine accepted but Putin rebuffed.

Asked about Trump's remarks on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow "hopes" US efforts "will yield results", but declined to comment on the timeline of negotiations.