Here is where things stand on Monday, 21 April:

Fighting

• At least three blasts were heard in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine amid an Easter ceasefire declared by Moscow, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing local “operative services.”
• Ukraine’s forces reported nearly 3,000 violations of Russia’s own ceasefire pledge, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that Kyiv’s forces were instructed to mirror the Russian Army’s actions.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said Ukraine had broken the Easter ceasefire declared by the Kremlin more than a thousand times, claiming that Ukrainian forces shot at Russian positions 444 times. The ministry also said Kremlin forces encountered more than 900 Ukrainian drone attacks during this time.

• The ministry also said Moscow took control of the village of Novomykhailivka, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, before the Easter ceasefire. Ukraine’s authorities are yet to comment on this claim.

Oil and gas

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• Ukraine may need to import up to 6.3 billion cubic metres of gas for the 2025-26 winter season due to record low levels of reserves because of war-related damage to some facilities, said Sergiy Makogon, the former head of Kyiv’s gas transit operator.

Ceasefire

• Zelenskyy said the Russian Army made attempts to “advance and inflict losses” on Kyiv’s army overnight despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of an Easter ceasefire. “Either Putin does not have full control over his army or the situation in Russia is that they have no intention of making a genuine move towards ending the war,” Zelenskyy said.
• The United States Department of State said it would welcome the extension of the Easter ceasefire. However, the Kremlin said earlier there was no order for an extension.
• Zelenskyy proposed suspending drone, cruise missile and rocket attacks on civilian targets for at least 30 days, after Russia revealed there were no orders to extend the ceasefire.