'No truce': Ukrainian soldiers, civilians doubt Putin's ceasefire order

'No truce': Ukrainian soldiers, civilians doubt Putin's ceasefire order

Near the front line in eastern Ukraine, soldier Sergiy struggled to contain his laughter when asked about a unilateral truce -- ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin -- that was supposed to be in force on Thursday.

"Has it started?" he said.

For the 41-year-old Ukrainian soldier in the town of Kramatorsk, around 20 kilometres from the front line, Thursday was another typical day in a war that is now grinding through its fourth year.

Putin said he was ordering his troops to halt all combat activity on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, to coincide with Moscow's Victory Day celebrations on May 9, marking the end of World War II.

Kyiv has criticised the move as political theatrics designed to protect a major military parade on Moscow's Red Square, to be attended by more than 20 foreign leaders.

It wants a full unconditional 30-day ceasefire -- a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump but rejected by Putin.

Kyiv's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga dismissed Putin's order as a "farce", and said there had been hundreds of attempted Russian attacks since midnight, when the truce was supposed to have come into effect.

Soldiers and civilians alike said reports of violations were not a surprise, having no faith that the Kremlin would abide by its own order to halt attacks, even for just three days.

"Nothing changed last night, there were still strikes," said Andriy, a 50-year-old soldier waiting for his cappuccino in a cafe in Kramatorsk.

Another soldier called Sergiy, a sergeant deployed near the town of Toretsk, which Russia claims to have captured, said Russian troops were still launching infantry attacks in small groups.

"Only there are no Russian planes in the sky for now," he told AFP.

"There's no truce, there's medium-intensity fighting," the commander of a drone unit deployed in the south and east told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

- 'Death' -

Putin's Victory Day truce order is the second short-term ceasefire in the last month.

Both countries agreed to halt fighting for 30 hours to mark Easter last month.

Fighting on the front subsided and there were no aerial attacks on Ukraine during the period, though Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of thousands of individual violations.

More than three years into the Russian invasion, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, Ukrainians say they do not trust the Kremlin.

"There is no hope that they will keep their word," said Victoria, a 43-year-old who works at a bank in Kramatorsk.

In the capital Kyiv, the feeling was the same.

"When has Russia ever kept its promises?" asked Anatoly Pavlovych, 73.

US efforts to push the sides to agree a broader ceasefire and start talks on a peace deal appear to have stalled.

Washington has threatened to stop trying to mediate an end to the fighting and called for Moscow and Kyiv to engage in direct talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that such talks should take place once a longer-term ceasefire is already in place.

Yuri, a 39-year-old soldier, told AFP that Ukraine did not have the capacity to win the war on the battlefield.

"We won't win physically. Only by pressure, pressure from all sides. We don't have enough people or resources," he said.

Zelensky has also conceded Ukraine will need to try to secure the return of some territory captured by Russia through diplomacy, not arms.

But after more than three years of fighting there are no signs the two sides are close to agreeing a deal to halt the fighting.

For Andriy, it is soldiers themselves who want the war to end more than anyone.

"Of course we are for peace," he said.

"We want this most of all, because we know what death is."

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Originally published as 'No truce': Ukrainian soldiers, civilians doubt Putin's ceasefire order