Russian forces gradually retreat from Western outskirts of Pokrovsk — Khortytsia troop grouping

Spokesperson for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group of troops Viktor Trehubov stated this, according to Ukrinform.

"It concerns positions to the west of the city (Pokrovsk). There, they have been gradually pulling back since March, if not since the end of February. They tried very actively to advance specifically to cut off the road from the Dnipropetrovsk region—from Pavlohrad to Pokrovsk—but they failed. The turning point came when the Ukrainians recaptured Kotlyne, and now the Russians are very slowly retreating from the western outskirts of the city closer to the southern ones, from which they originally began their advance," Trehubov noted.

He also mentioned that fighting in the Pokrovsk direction remains the most intense. Meanwhile, in the Kupiansk and Kharkiv directions, Russian forces are focusing more on rotations and troop buildups than on active attacks.

"If we consider a decrease in the intensity of fighting and clashes as a sign of a truce, then yes, there has been a reduction—about two to three times less. On the other hand, this is by no means a truce. For example, if there were about 80 clashes in a direction, and now there are 30, it looks more like a pause or a temporary lull," the spokesperson explained. "This is a temporary decrease in intensity in order to significantly increase it later."

In addition, according to him, the Russian forces carried out provocations, including attempts to draw Ukrainian troops into visually violating the ceasefire.

"They even conducted several operations that, to us, looked like attempts to provoke Ukrainians into a visually obvious violation of the truce—such as maneuvers that resembled assaults but were carried out under a white flag. It seemed they were really just trying to provoke a visible violation of the ceasefire," Trehubov summarized.

• On Sunday, April 20, fighting continued on the Russian-Ukrainian front despite Putin's promised "Easter ceasefire." The Russians were most actively attacking in the Pokrovsk direction.