Ukraine, Russia ceasefire strained as both sides report weekend attacks

KYIV: A US-mediated ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine appeared under serious strain on Sunday, with both sides trading blame for weekend attacks.

The three-day pause, announced on Friday by President Donald Trump, is part of a broader US-led push for peace that has so far failed to end the more than four-year-old war despite months of shuttle diplomacy.

Three people were killed in Russian drone strikes on areas near the front line, and more than 200 battlefield clashes had taken place since early Saturday, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday.

They held off explicitly accusing Russia of violating the US-brokered deal, which also included a swap of 1,000 prisoners of war from each side. It was unclear when the exchange would take place.

On Sunday, Russia’s Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of flouting the ceasefire, saying it had downed 57 Ukrainian drones over the past day and “responded in kind” on the battlefield.

Earlier this week, Russia and Ukraine had each announced separate ceasefires - starting on Friday and Wednesday respectively - but quickly accused one another of breaking them.

One person each in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions were killed in Russian drone attacks, regional governors and police said in separate reports on Sunday.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, governor Oleh Syniehubov said eight people, including two children, were wounded in drone strikes on the regional capital and nearby settlements.

Seven people, including a child, were also wounded in the Kherson region in drone or artillery attacks since early Saturday, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Sunday.

The State Emergencies Service said Russian forces attacked one of its rescue vehicles in the Dnipropetrovsk region with a drone, wounding a 23-year-old driver.

Kyiv’s air force said Russia had launched 27 long-range drones at Ukraine overnight - a lower number than usual - but that air defences had downed all of them.

Ukraine’s General Staff said on Sunday afternoon that nearly 210 clashes had taken place along the sprawling, 1,200-km front line since early Saturday.

Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

Russian forces are pressing an offensive to capture the rest of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which Moscow has demanded Kyiv cede before it considers ending its war.