Ukraine-Russia battle stay: Easter ceasefire doubtful after one killed in Russian drone strikes | EUROtoday

Drone particles fell on the grounds of an oil depot within the Russian city of Krymsk in a single day, triggering a hearth, native authorities stated.

Officials stated the blaze was extinguished by Saturday morning and there have been no reported accidents.

Krymsk is positioned in Russia’s Krasnodar area, which has been focused in earlier cross-border drone strikes throughout the battle.

Volodymyr Zelensky stated Ukrainian forces shot down Shahed drones for the US and its allies within the Middle East after they launched a battle in opposition to Iran, in a uncommon disclosure of Kyiv’s involvement within the battle.

Mr Zelensky stated the anti-drone operations have been part of a broader effort to assist companions counter comparable weapons as these utilized by Russia in Ukraine.

This marks the primary public acknowledgement of Kyiv’s help to the US and its allies within the area. It comes days after the US and Iran reached a tentative ceasefire.

Ukraine says a minimum of one particular person has been killed and 15 injured by Russian drone strikes forward of the beginning of right now’s Easter ceasefire.

The demise occurred in Poltava, the place a drone struck a store and a restaurant, killing one civilian and wounding one other, officers advised AFP. Separate strikes in Sumy injured 14 individuals together with a 14-year-old boy and an 87-year-old girl.

The ceasefire marking Orthodox Easter was initially proposed by Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has stated his forces will stop hearth from 4pm on Saturday till the tip of Sunday, a span of 32 hours. An analogous truce was agreed final 12 months however marred by plenty of reported violations.

In Kyiv, Ukrainians advised reporters they have been sceptical about how properly the truce can be noticed. “Even today, drones and missiles are still flying,” famous Dmytro Sova, a 42-year-old actor, to AFP. “If they want a ceasefire, then let them start it.”

A Russian court docket has ordered the detention of Oleg Roldugin, an investigative journalist for impartial newspaper Novaya Gazetafollowing his arrest a day earlier.

Roldugin was arrested on Thursday in a case involving alleged misuse ⁠of private information following a search of his house and a raid by masked safety brokers on the workplaces of Novaya Gazetaone in all Russia’s best-known investigative retailers.

Russia has tightened its censorship legal guidelines and elevated strain on impartial media because it launched its ⁠battle in Ukraine in 2022. In one other ​case ⁠this week, the FSB safety service stated it had detained a contract journalist in Siberia on suspicion of treason.

State media on Thursday revealed ⁠a short video clip of Roldugin’s arrest, displaying him being bundled right into a ​van ⁠by masked males. Under Russian legal ‌legislation, misuse of private information carries a jail sentence of as much as 10 years if it causes “grave consequences”.

Roldugin, standing in a glass field within the courtroom ‌on Friday, advised reporters he was harmless.

Nato member Estonia says it can’t afford to detain ​Russia’s “shadow fleet” vessels within the Baltic Sea and danger the prospect Moscow will reply with army drive.

Britain and different European nations, together with France, Belgium and ⁠Sweden, have stepped up efforts to detain ageing oil tankers utilized by Moscow to evade sanctions and safe very important funding for its four-year battle in opposition to Ukraine.

But Estonia, the northernmost Baltic state positioned near Russia’s predominant oil and gasoline export services within the Gulf of Finland, is practising restraint after an unsuccessful ⁠try to board a Russian vessel final 12 months.

“The ​risk ⁠of military escalation is just too high,” Estonia’s Navy Commander Ivo Vark advised Reuters.

In May 2025 Estonia stated Moscow despatched a fighter jet into Nato airspace ⁠over the Baltic Sea throughout an Estonian try to cease an unflagged Russia-bound oil ​tanker ⁠it believed was defying Western sanctions.

The jet ‌finally escorted the oil tanker into Russian waters.

Volodymyr Zelensky stated Ukrainian forces shot down Shahed drones for the US and its allies within the Middle East after they launched a battle in opposition to Iran, in a uncommon disclosure of Kyiv’s involvement within the battle.

Mr Zelensky stated the anti-drone operations have been part of a broader effort to assist companions counter comparable weapons as these utilized by Russia in Ukraine.

This marks the primary public acknowledgement of Kyiv’s help to the US and its allies within the area. It comes days after the US and Iran reached a tentative ceasefire.

People on the streets of Kyiv have been cautious of an Easter truce with Russia, recalling that earlier such truces had been rapidly violated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday introduced a 32-hour ceasefire beginning on Saturday afternoon and working all through Orthodox Easter till midnight on Sunday.

“He can only make promises about some ceasefire. No one is going to hand over our land to him,” stated 60-year-old Yuliia, huddled beneath a thick overcoat, as a road thermometer confirmed 2 levels Celsius in Kyiv.

Putin’s announcement was just like a 30-hour ceasefire he ordered final 12 months. Each aspect accused the opposite of violating it.

“Every year it’s the same old ‘ceasefire, ceasefire’. Even on one of the New Year’s Eve, when they promised a ceasefire, there was an air raid alarm all night long,” stated Varvara, a 17-year-old scholar who declined to provide her second title.

“Well, of course I want to believe it, but no, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Our group is split over Ukraine’s draft disaster. While some empathised with these fearing the entrance line, others careworn the obligation to struggle, and plenty of debated how the military could possibly be higher organised:

Ukraine and Russia are transferring in direction of a possible deal to finish the battle, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing the highest aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Kyrylo Budanov, a former head of Ukraine’s army intelligence, stated that he noticed progress in direction of a deal, however declined to say what a possible compromise on territory, a key stumbling block, would appear to be.

“No final decision has been made yet,” he stated, in line with the report. “But, in principle, everyone now clearly understands the limits of what is acceptable. That’s enormous progress.”

“They all understand the war needs to end. That’s why they are negotiating,” Budanov said in an interview with Bloomberg on April 4. “I don’t think it will be long.”

A Russian court on Friday ordered Oleg Roldugin, an investigative journalist for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, to be placed in pre-trial detention until May 10.

Roldugin was detained on Thursday in a case involving alleged misuse of personal data following a search of his home and a raid by masked security agents on the offices of Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s best-known investigative outlets.