By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine says it has come under massive Russian air strikes on Easter Sunday despite Pope Francis’s appeals for peace and a prisoner swap between Kyiv and Moscow. Russia confirmed Sunday that it conducted a massive strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and natural gas industry, though Kyiv also managed to attack sites in Russia.
As Ukrainian Christians gathered for worship this Easter Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it used “high-precision long-range air-based weapons” and drones to attack Ukraine.
In a statement, the defense ministry said that due to the strikes, “the operations of Ukrainian defense industry enterprises involved in manufacturing and repairing weapons, equipment, and ammunition have been disrupted.”
It stressed that all the strike’s goals had been achieved as the assigned objects were hit.
Earlier on Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 16 missiles and 11 drones in an overnight air attack. The air force said it had managed to down nine of the drones and nine of the rockets.
Thousands in Ukraine’s Odesa region were temporarily left without power after debris from a downed Russian drone caused a blaze at an energy facility.
Authorities said about 170,000 homes were left with temporary power outages due to the attack.
FIGHTING BACK
However, Ukraine fought back. Russian officials noted that Kyiv launched ten Czech-made Vampire rockets at the Russian border region of Belgorod, injuring at least one woman.
The battles raged while Ukraine entered Easter reflecting on aspects of a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people since Russia invaded the country in
February 2022.
On Sunday, Ukraine began marking the second anniversary of the liberation of Bucha, which became known for its massacre. Russia occupied the city, only some 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv, the capital, at the start of its full-scale invasion.
Human rights investigators and prosecutors say Russia killed hundreds of civilians and left them in mass graves, which were uncovered after Ukraine retook the area in March 2022.
Thousands of kilometers (miles) away in Vatican City, Pope Francis shared in their grief telling tens of thousands of pilgrims that “Peace is never made with weapons, but with outstretched hands and open hearts.”
Watched by an often applauding wind-swept crowd below, Francis exclaimed that his thoughts went particularly to people in Ukraine and Gaza and all those facing war, particularly the children who he said had “forgotten how to smile.”
“In calling for respect for the principles of international law, I express my hope for a general exchange of all prisoners between Russia and Ukraine: all for the sake of all,” he added.
AMMUNITION DIFFICULTIES
His appeal amid concerns among its international backers that Ukraine is losing the war without more Western support.
In recent days, at least one Ukrainian tank unit has been firing artillery at Russian infantry positions in the Bakhmut direction as Russian forces attempt to advance in the area.
As that happened, the Ukrainian military commander of the unit complained of dwindling ammunition supplies, a common problem across the 1,000-kilometers (620 miles) frontline, Worthy News monitored.
“It’s a complicated situation at the frontline. We are lacking ammunition. It would be much easier for the infantry if we had them,” said Commander Ihor, who only gives his first name.
There have been calls for peace talks, but Moscow and Kyiv have disagreed on how to end this war.
That’s why men, including those whose lives have just begun, continue to battle, with frontlines increasingly resembling the bloodstained trenches of World War One.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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