Egypt Daily News – After a fragile ceasefire came to an end, fighting resumed on the front lines with the use of missiles and drones. This development follows a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine was “possible” as early as “this week.”
Russia resumed its airstrikes on Ukraine, according to two local Ukrainian officials on Monday (April 21, 2025), after a 30-hour ceasefire declared by Moscow for Easter. Trump expressed hope for an agreement between the two nations during the current week.
Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, wrote on Telegram that “the Russian army launched drones on the region.” He noted that a house was damaged and a fire broke out at a food factory, but no casualties were reported. Mykolaiv (south) governor Vitalii Kim confirmed that Russian airstrikes had also resumed in his region. Additionally, Ihor Taburets, governor of the central Cherkasy region, reported drone strikes, stating that “eight Russian drones were shot down by air defense forces.” He added that “a facility was damaged,” with no injuries reported.
On Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had agreed to the Easter truce, accused Russia of violating the ceasefire “over 2,000 times,” although he noted that no Russian airstrikes occurred during the day. He proposed halting drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure for at least 30 days.
On the Russian side, similar accusations were made against Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense reported unsuccessful attempts by Ukrainian forces to “attack Russian positions” in the Sukhaya Balka and Bakhmut areas of Donetsk region. Moscow also claimed that Ukraine attacked the Russian border regions of Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod, resulting in “civilian casualties and injuries.” Regarding the ceasefire, which ended at 9:00 PM GMT on Sunday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that President Vladimir Putin had “not issued any order to extend it.”
Trump Hopes for End to the War
This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he hopes Russia and Ukraine can reach a peace agreement “this week.” He wrote, “I hope Russia and Ukraine strike a deal this week,” promising both sides “prosperous trade relations with the United States.”
In what was interpreted as a sign of impatience, Trump threatened on Friday to withdraw from negotiations if there was no rapid progress in separate talks conducted by his aides with Kyiv and Moscow in recent weeks.
Despite the lull in fighting, the continued mutual accusations highlight the difficulty of enforcing even a temporary truce after more than three years of conflict since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
There have been two previous attempts at Easter ceasefires, in April 2022 and January 2023, both of which failed—first due to Moscow’s refusal, then Kyiv’s.
Russia has claimed to have regained control of about 99.5% of the territory occupied by Ukrainians in the Russian Kursk region since the summer of 2024. This development could shift the entire front line back into Ukrainian territory.
