Russia and Ukraine Accuse Each Other of Ceasefire Violations Amid Casualties

Russia and Ukraine swapped accusations Sunday of violating a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, with both sides reporting casualties from drone and artillery strikes in the past 24 hours.

President Trump announced Friday that Russia and Ukraine would exchange 1,000 prisoners as part of a three-day truce tied to Russia's Victory Day observances over the weekend.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia showed no sign of honoring the agreement. "Russia is neither observing the truce nor even particularly trying to," he said in an evening statement. Zelenskyy noted a lull in large-scale attacks but no calm along the front lines and promised retaliation against any Russian aggression.

"Yesterday and today, Ukraine refrained from long-range retaliatory actions in response to the absence of large-scale Russian attacks," he said, highlighting Ukraine's growing capacity to strike deep into Russia. "We will continue to respond in the same mirrorlike manner, and if the Russians decide to return to full-scale warfare, our response will be immediate and significant."

Ivan Fedorov, head of Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, reported one person killed and three injured by Russian artillery and drone attacks in the last 24 hours. Local officials said another 16 people suffered wounds in strikes across other Ukrainian regions.

Russia's Ministry of Defense accused Kyiv of more than 1,000 ceasefire breaches, according to state media citing a daily briefing. The ministry claimed Ukrainian forces targeted civilian areas in several Russian regions and hit military positions on the front line. Russian troops "responded in kind," it said.

Two people were hurt by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Kherson region, said Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed leader there.

Trump called the pause the "beginning of the end" of the war on Friday. Both nations had declared separate ceasefires earlier, leaving the latest three-day timeline from Saturday through Monday somewhat vague, though Ukraine and Russia both seemed to accept it.

Zelenskyy, who said Russian officials "fear drones may buzz over Red Square" during Moscow's May 9 parade, followed Trump's remarks by joking that Ukrainian strikes would spare the square for the event. The Kremlin dismissed it as a "silly joke."

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Sunday he expects U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, key figures in end-war talks, to visit Moscow soon. But he insisted Moscow would not drop its demand for Kyiv to pull troops from Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. "Until (Ukraine) takes that step, we can hold several more rounds, dozens of rounds (of negotiations), but we'll be stuck in the same place," Ushakov told the state news agency Tass.

Past truces, including one at Orthodox Easter, yielded no results amid persistent distrust between Moscow and Kyiv more than four years into Russia's invasion. U.S.-led diplomacy to halt the fighting has also faltered.