Russia’s Putin announces Orthodox Easter ceasefire, Ukraine’s Zelensky agrees

• Russia declared an Easter ceasefire in Ukraine from 16:00 on April 11 to the end of April 12, 2026, according to the Kremlin.
• Russia's General Staff is ordered to halt combat operations but will "counter any possible provocations by the enemy.” Ukraine has not yet responded.
• War negotiations are deadlocked amidst territorial disputes, with Russia seeking Ukrainian troop withdrawal from key cities for any peace accord.

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a 32-hour ceasefire in its war with Ukraine for the Orthodox Easter holidays, the Kremlin said April 9.

With talks on ending the four-year-old conflict derailed by the Middle East war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that he had made a holiday truce proposal through the United States.

Mr Putin’s announcement was similar to a 30-hour ceasefire he ordered in 2025. Each side accused the other of violating it.

“A ceasefire is declared from 4pm on April 11 until the end of the day on April 12, 2026”, by Mr Putin, “in connection with the approaching Orthodox feast of Easter”, the Kremlin announcement said.

The announcement said Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov had issued an order to Russia’s top commander, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, “to stop for this period military action in all directions”.

“Troops are to be ready to eliminate all possible provocations by the enemy as well as any aggressive actions.”

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine had repeatedly proposed a halt to fighting for Orthodox Easter.

“Ukraine has repeatedly stated that we are ready for reciprocal steps. We proposed a ceasefire during the Easter holiday this year and will act accordingly,” Mr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

“People need an Easter without threats and a real move towards peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to attacks even after Easter.”

The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions, making it Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

No resumption of three-way talks

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency TASS that Mr Putin’s ceasefire proposal had not been discussed in advance with the US. Nor was it linked to any notion of resuming three-way talks on a settlement.

Mr Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is, meanwhile, now in the US and is meeting members of US President Donald Trump’s administration for discussions on a peace deal and US-Russia economic cooperation, sources with knowledge of the visit told Reuters.

According to the calendar of the Orthodox faith, dominant in both Russia and Ukraine, Easter falls on April 12 in 2026.

Mr Zelensky had for more than a week proposed an Easter ceasefire and, citing air attacks on Ukrainian cities, said Moscow had chosen to respond instead with drones.

Russia had previously reacted coolly to Mr Zelensky’s proposal, saying it preferred to pursue a long-term settlement.

The Ukrainian President has proposed a halt to fighting on a number of occasions, but has been turned down by Moscow.

For Easter, he called for each side to stop targeting the other’s energy infrastructure, saying he made the offer through the US.

Slow advances

Over the past few years, fighting on the front has come to a near standstill. Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost.

But Kyiv recently managed to push back in the south-east and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Apart from Ukrainian counter-attacks, analysts attributed the slowdown to Russia being banned from using SpaceX’s Starlink satellites and Moscow’s own efforts to block the Telegram messaging app.

The satellite and the messaging app were widely used by troops for communications, especially for coordinating drone attacks that have come to dominate the war.

The situation is, however, unfavourable for Ukraine in the Donetsk region, towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to the ISW.

Moscow wants Ukraine to pull troops from both cities without a fight as part of any peace accord.

Ukraine has in recent days stepped up assaults on Russian energy targets, especially oil-exporting ports after prices spiked on the back of the Middle East war.

Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement and US attention is now focused on Iran.

The negotiations have become deadlocked with Moscow demanding territorial and political concessions that Mr Zelensky has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation.

Moscow occupies just over 19 per cent of Ukraine, the majority of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict. AFP, REUTERS