Russian forces violated the Easter ceasefire agreement by targeting a Ukrainian volunteer’s vehicle with three FPV drones while he was evacuating civilians in Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainska Pravda reported on April 20.
Volunteer Yevhen Tkachov was transporting civilians from the village of Zoria, south of Kramatorsk, when the first drone attack occurred about 50 meters from the Donetsk Highway. Despite activating his emergency lights and signaling with his arms to indicate he was a civilian, the drone struck just half a meter from his vehicle.
Tkachov said, “I motioned for the two cars behind me to go ahead, but I couldn’t drive anymore because my car wouldn’t start after being damaged by the drone strike.”
Tkachov and two civilians took cover in nearby bushes as a second drone circled and struck just meters away, injuring one of the civilians with shrapnel. A third drone then destroyed their vehicle. They were later rescued by a chaplain.
This attack occurred despite a self-declared Easter ceasefire by Russian forces, set to begin at 6 p.m. on April 19 and end at midnight on April 21. Russian President Vladimir Putin had called the ceasefire a test of Ukraine’s willingness for peace talks.
Since the ceasefire began, multiple violations have been reported along the front line, including a fatality and several injuries in Kherson Oblast.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the violations in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on April 20. “Either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that Russia has no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war,” he stated. “They are only interested in favorable PR coverage.”
