Russian military confirms ‘Easter truce’ is over and fighting has begun again as Ukrainian says Moscow launched 96 drones and three missiles overnight

When Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, he demanded that Ukraine renounce joining Nato, sharply cut its army, and “protect” Russian language and culture to keep the country in Moscow’s orbit.

Now, he also demands that Kyiv withdraw its forces from the four regions Moscow illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully occupied — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.