Russia’s Putin declares unilateral Easter ceasefire in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a surprise one-day ceasefire in Ukraine for Easter on Saturday, but Kyiv said Russian forces continued artillery fire and called instead for an extended true halt to hostilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had rejected just such a proposal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump last month and could not be trusted.

Putin’s unilateral move, to extend over 30 hours, followed Washington’s announcement that it could abandon peace talks within days unless Moscow and Kyiv showed they were serious about negotiating.

Putin ordered fighting to stop as of 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday until midnight on Sunday night.

“Based on humanitarian considerations … the Russian side announces an Easter truce. I order a stop to all military activities for this period,” Putin told Valery Gerasimov, Chief of Russia’s General Staff, at a televised meeting.

“We assume that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions.”

Shortly after the announcement, around an hour before it was due to take effect, air raid sirens rang out in Kyiv. Another warning was put in place briefly in Kyiv and the region around the capital about four hours after the ceasefire deadline.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the proposal as “yet another attempt by Putin to play with human lives”. As of 45 minutes before the truce was meant to start, Ukrainian planes were repelling Russian air strikes, Zelenskiy said in a post on X.

In a post later on social media platform X, Zelenskiy quoted Ukraine’s top commander as saying that Russian assault operations “continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided.”

“Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow.”

He recalled that Russia had last month rejected the U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire and said that if Moscow agreed to “truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly — mirroring Russia’s actions”.

“If a complete ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond the Easter day of April 20,” Zelenskiy wrote.

LITTLE FAITH

Kyiv residents expressed little faith in the ceasefire, saying similar past moves by Putin had had little effect.

“This man is not capable of reaching any sort of a deal. He does not know how to do that,” said Tetiana Solovei, 65. “Tonight, in Ukraine and especially in Kyiv, we expect missiles. There will be no ceasefire.”

Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said Russian forces continued to fire on Ukrainian positions after the truce was meant to have taken effect.

The governor of southern Ukraine’s Kherson province said Russian air strikes began shortly before the truce was to start and continued after. He posted a picture of a damaged building.

“Unfortunately, we are not seeing any sort of calm here. The shelling continues and our civilians are under fire,” he wrote on Telegram.

Reuters could not independently verify the situation at the front.

Ukrainian bloggers who cover the war said firing continued along the entire line of contact. But public broadcaster Suspilne quoted servicemen on the eastern front as saying the number of Russian attacks had declined.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its troops had been instructed about the ceasefire and would adhere to it, provided it was “mutually respected” by Ukraine.

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Friday the United States would walk away from efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal unless there were clear signs of progress soon.

Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for Putin who travelled to Washington this month, posted news of the ceasefire on X, adding: “One step closer to peace” and an emoji of a dove.

Trump has vowed to bring a swift end to the war, while shifting U.S. policy from firmly supporting Kyiv towards accepting Moscow’s account of the conflict.

Last month, after Ukraine accepted Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce but Moscow rejected it, the sides agreed only to limited pauses of attacks on energy targets and at sea, which each accuses the other of breaking.

Putin announced his Easter truce a week after a Russian missile attack killed 35 people and wounded nearly 120 in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, including Christians heading to celebrate Palm Sunday.

That attack, the deadliest against civilians of the year so far, spurred Kyiv and its European allies to press Washington to take a tougher line towards Moscow.

Putin has proclaimed unilateral pauses in fighting in the past with little impact, including a 36-hour proposed truce for Orthodox Christmas in January 2023, which Kyiv rejected.

Separately, Russia and Ukraine confirmed a swap of prisoners of war on Saturday, mediated by the UAE. Each released 246 prisoners, while a further 31 wounded Ukrainians were transferred in exchange for 15 injured Russian soldiers, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Reporting by Lucy Papachristou in London; Additional reporting by Olena Harmash and Margaryta Chornokondrtenko in Kyiv and Ron Popeski; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Alison Williams, Peter Graff and Sandra Maler. (Reuters)