The Russian defence ministry on Sunday accused Ukraine of “16,071 ceasefire violations” over a 24-hour period, including thousands of drone strikes. Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, the war in Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands of people and spiralled into Europe’s deadliest since World War II.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, ordering Russian forces to halt hostilities from 4 p.m. on Saturday until the end of Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to abide by the ceasefire but warned of a swift military response to any violations.

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaking a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on Sunday, with both sides reporting casualties from drone and artillery strikes carried out in the last 24 hours.

Separately, Russia’s Ministry of Defense accused Kyiv of committing more than 1,000 ceasefire violations, state media reported, citing a daily briefing on Sunday. The ministry said Ukrainian forces had attacked civilian targets in several Russian regions and carried out strikes against Russian military positions on the front line.

They accused each other of violating a truce in place for Orthodox Easter thousands of times. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

By Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan MOSCOW, May 8 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of violating ceasefires that each has separately declared, as Moscow prepares to hold its annual World War Two victory parade under tight security.