Key Points
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a one-day Easter ceasefire in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says attacks have continued nonetheless.
- It comes after the US threatened to abandon Russia-Ukraine peace deal efforts unless rapid progress is made.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a surprise one-day ceasefire in Ukraine for Easter, but Kyiv said Russian forces continued artillery fire and called instead for an extended true halt to hostilities.
Putin’s unilateral move, to extend over 30 hours, followed the United States’ announcement that it could abandon peace talks within days unless Russia and Ukraine showed they were serious about negotiating.
Putin ordered fighting to stop as of 6pm Moscow time on Saturday (1am Sunday AEST) until midnight on Sunday night (7am Monday AEST).
“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.”
Vladimir Putin (right) announced the ceasefire in a televised meeting with Russia’s chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov (left). Source: AAP / Vyacheslav Prokofiev / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / EPA
Zelenskyy responded by saying Ukraine would follow suit, and proposed extending the truce beyond Sunday. But the Ukrainian leader also accused Russia of having already broken its promises.
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 Zelenskyy 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, Zelenskyy said in a post on social media platform X.
In a post later on X, Zelenskyy 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 US-proposed full 30-day ceasefire and said that if Russia 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,” Zelenskyy wrote.
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 airstrikes 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.
The situation at the front could not be independently verified.
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.
US President Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio had said on Friday unless there were clear signs of progress soon.
Trump has vowed to bring a swift end to the war, while shifting US policy from firmly supporting Ukraine towards accepting Russia’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.
Easter truce announcement comes after deadly Sumy attack
Putin announced his Easter truce a week after a 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 Ukraine and its European allies to press Washington to take a tougher line towards Russia.
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 Ukraine 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.
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