MOSCOW, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian armed forces have violated the Easter ceasefire 1,971 times from Saturday, when the truce was agreed upon, until 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Sunday, said the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukrainian forces launched three nighttime attacks on Russian troop positions in two settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk region, it said, adding that Russian forces also thwarted four attempts to advance on their troop positions in the Sumy and Donetsk regions.
All Russian troop groups in the conflict zone "strictly observed the ceasefire... and remained at their previously occupied lines and positions," it said.
On the same day, Ukraine also accused Russia of violating the ceasefire. "As of 7:00 a.m. on 12 April, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded," said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced an Orthodox Easter ceasefire with Ukraine from 4 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) Saturday until the end of Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Ukraine intends to honor the ceasefire and will respond "in a strictly reciprocal manner." ■