Ukraine Conflict Monitor
Update
Ukraine war situation update | 11 – 17 April 2026
Russia resumes strikes on Ukrainian cities after a short ceasefire over Orthodox Easter.
Key stats
1,615 political violence events
9% decrease compared to last week
130 incidents of violence targeting civilians
13% decrease compared to last week
At least 67 civilians killed by targeted violence
18% increase compared to last week
Key events
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14 Apr.
Dnipropetrovsk — Russian strikes kill 11 civilians and injure over 50 others over three days in the city of Dnipro
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16 Apr.
Odesa — Russian ballistic missiles and drones kill eight civilians in the city and port of Odesa
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16 Apr.
Krasnodar Krai, Russia — Ukrainian drone strikes damage an oil refinery and port in Tuapse, killing two civilians
Key trends
- Russian forces advanced along the international border in the Sumy region and captured two settlements near Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region. They made advances near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region and seized a village near Huliaipole in the Zaporizhia region.
- Russian forces launched at least 52 long-range missile and drone attacks, including in the northern regions of Zhytomyr and Kyiv, as well as in the city of Kyiv.
- Russian strikes killed at least 58 civilians in the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Donetsk, and Cherkasy regions, as well as in the city of Kyiv. According to Russian sources, Ukrainian strikes killed four civilians in the Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson and Donetsk regions.
Spotlight: Russia uses Easter ceasefire to regroup and resume massive strikes on civilians in Ukraine
Following calls by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a truce on Orthodox Easter, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a ceasefire between 16:00 p.m. local time on 11 April and 24:00 p.m. on 12 April, resulting in the cessation of armed clashes and long-range attacks.1 ACLED data show that, despite a cessation of long-range strikes on 12 April, the ceasefire was loosely observed closer to the front line. The number of armed clashes, shelling, and airstrikes waged by both sides decreased by 36% on Easter Sunday compared to the daily average of 281 events over the past three months of 2026. Communities on both sides of the front line were largely, though not fully, spared during the ceasefire.
Similar to how last year’s Easter ceasefire was used to regroup troops on the front line, the ceasefire allowed Russia to conserve weapons to support its tactic of overwhelming Ukraine’s air defense with large waves of long-range weapons aimed at large population centers once the ceasefire ended in the early hours of 13 April. Russian forces carried out deadly waves of strikes containing large numbers of drones and missiles on large cities, such as Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Odesa, and Kyiv, throughout the week. On 16 April, a wave of over 700 drones and ballistic missiles also struck the city of Kyiv, killing four civilians, including a child, and injuring more than 60 others across the city. The strikes used batches of cheaper fixed-wing drones and ballistic missiles and exploited worsening Ukrainian air defense restraints. Ukraine has recently been pleading for replenishment of its depleting stocks of PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot air defense systems, which the US has prioritized in its war in the Middle East.2
Russia is targeting the Ukrainian population in the largely peaceful rear as a method of eroding support for continuing war efforts. As Ukraine’s armed forces’ technological edge on the front line and further Western aid suggest that Ukraine will likely hold defensive positions and enact local pushbacks against Russia’s armed forces, Russia will increasingly use intense bursts of long-range strikes and asymmetrical sabotage in the coming summer months to weaken Kyiv’s negotiating position and internal coherence.
