Half of Ukraine faced air raid sirens early on Monday morning as Russia bombarded the country with aerial attacks.
The first sirens sounded moments after the end of a 30-hour Easter truce, unilaterally declared by Vladimir Putin at the start of the weekend.
Blasts shook the eastern city of Mykolaiv and air raid alerts were sounded in Kyiv, city officials said this morning.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that in reality Russia continued striking throughout the so-called truce, attacking the country a total of 2,935 times, with the most shelling occurring around Pokrovsk.
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a long-term ceasefire, said he is hopeful Russia and Ukraine can come to a deal to end the war this week.
“Both will then start to do big business with the United States of America, which is thriving, and make a fortune!” he said.
Britain’s former defence secretary Ben Wallace says Mr Trump risks becoming “a cheerleader for Russia” – and that he isn’t actually any good at making deals.
Dozens of released Ukrainian prisoners of war embraced loved ones in emotional reunions after they were returned from Russian captivity.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said 277 Ukrainian soldiers were returned in the war's largest exchange on Saturday (19 April).
Most Ukrainians were young people born after 2000, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said.
Since Russia's invasion began, a total of 4,552 Ukrainians, both military and civilians, have been returned.
Thousands of prisoners of war remain in captivity.
Saturday's exchange was the 63rd since the start of the war.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Ukraine used US-made HIMARS MLRS systems to violate the Easter truce.
"It (the ceasefire) was not observed by the Kiev regime during Easter. Notably, the used American weapons, HIMARS systems, to violate it," she wrote on her Telegram channel.
She said Ukraine struck civilian energy infrastructure during the moratorium, which was expected b...
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