Ramil Sitdikov / Sputnik / Kremlin
Vladimir Putin visits tank production company
But Russia is prepared to “repel any possible provocation or aggressive action by the enemy.”
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, announced this Thursday a 32-hour ceasefire with Ukrainebetween Saturday night and Sunday, in celebration of the Orthodox Easter, after Kiev proposed a pause in hostilities.
“By order of the Supreme Commander, (…) V. Putin, in view of the Orthodox Easter (Resurrection of Christ) holiday, a ceasefire is declared from 16:00 (14:00 mainland Portugal) of the day April 11th until the end of April 12th 2026″, says the Kremlin statement.
The announcement comes in the wake of a proposal made earlier this week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a pause in attacks on each country’s energy infrastructure during Orthodox Easter.
The statement added that the Russian military command received instructions to cease hostilities on all frontsduring a period of 32 hours.
However, he adds that the troops will be “prepared to repel any possible provocation or aggressive action by the enemy.”
“We presume that Ukraine will follow o example of the Russian Federation”, concludes the statement.
The President of Ukraine has already reacted: “People need an Easter without threats and real progress towards peace, and Russia has the opportunity to not resume attacks after Easter“.
Through spokesman Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin clarified, this Friday morning, that it did not speak to Ukraine and the USA before moving towards this ceasefire.
Previous ceasefire attempts have had little or no impact.
Last Easter, Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour ceasefire, but attacks continued, with each side accusing the other of not respecting the truce.
Another temporary ceasefire was announced by Moscow in May 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany.
On March 31, the Kremlin rejected Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal for a bilateral ceasefire over Orthodox Easter, and since then the Russian Presidency has been reluctant to comment on the matter.
Zelenskyy has proposed a general ceasefire, something the Russian leader vehemently opposes, as he believes Kiev would use it to rearm and mobilize more troops.
The Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day truce was supported by American President Donald Trump.
Negotiations led by Washington made no progress on key issues, and diplomatic attention has turned in recent weeks to the conflict in the Middle East.
The Russian and Ukrainian armies remain in combat on a front line approximately 1,250 kilometers (800 miles) apart.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with the argument of protecting pro-Russian separatist minorities in the east and “denazifying” the neighboring country, independent since 1991 – after the collapse of the Soviet Union – and which has been moving away from Moscow’s sphere of influence and moving closer to Europe and the West.
