Zelensky Proposes Easter Truce Amid Escalating Attacks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a pause in attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure over the Orthodox Easter holiday, which will be observed this coming weekend. The offer was made through the United States, which has been mediating talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv. However, Russia continued its assaults, with a Ukrainian drone killing three civilians in Russia’s Vladimir region and two Russian attacks killing seven civilians in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions.

In the southern city of Kherson, a non-stop half-hour Russian attack on a residential area killed three elderly people and injured seven more. A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa also killed two women and a toddler. Ukrainian long-range drones targeted Russia’s key Black Sea port for oil exports, causing significant damage to the Sheskharis oil terminal at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in Russia’s Krasnodar region.

Ukraine has regained control of 480 sq. km (185 sq. miles) of territory in the southeastern and eastern parts of the front since late January, with Ukrainian troops returning control over eight settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the east and four settlements in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. Zelensky also sought international support during his Middle East tour, announcing greater security cooperation with Turkey after meeting President Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.

Zelensky expressed concern that a prolonged U.S.-Israeli war on Iran could erode America’s support for Ukraine and stated that Ukraine desperately needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles to counter Russia's daily barrages. He also pledged greater security cooperation with Syria, stating that the leaders agreed to work together for 'more security and opportunities for development for our societies.'

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces increased attacks on Russian energy facilities in recent weeks as peace talks failed to make progress. The NORSI oil refinery, Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery and second-largest producer of gasoline, suspended operations following a Ukrainian drone attack. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) Black Sea terminal, which handles 1.5% of global oil supply, was also attacked by Ukrainian drones.

The attacks are part of Kyiv’s wider effort to hit more than a dozen oil refineries deep in Russia. Robert Brovdi, Ukrainian drone forces commander, said that Ukrainian drones have struck Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Primorsk and the NORSI oil refinery in the central Nizhny Novgorod region. The governor of Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, said that two facilities at the Norsi plant were hit and that a power station and several houses were damaged during the attack.

Zelensky also mentioned that Ukraine's maritime defence expertise is of interest in Asia, with Ukrainian military personnel taking part in consultations on the further operation of the Strait of Hormuz. He stated that safe navigation is a global value and that Ukraine knows this from its experience defending the Black Sea.