President Vladimir Putin has announced an unexpected and brief unilateral Easter truce in Russia’s war on Ukraine while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists that Russian “assault operations” and “artillery fire are ongoing”.
Zelenskyy initially called the announcement on Saturday “another attempt by Putin to play with human lives. … Air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine,” and “Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.”
The Ukrainian leader said later on X that his country would abide by a truce “if Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence” and suggested extending a ceasefire.
In his surprise move, Putin said in televised comments while speaking to the Russian military’s chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov: “Today from 18:00 [15:00 GMT] to midnight Sunday [21:00 GMT on Sunday], the Russian side announces an Easter truce.” He added that the truce is based on “humanitarian considerations”.