Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the country’s military to suspend all operations against Ukrainian forces over the Orthodox Easter weekend, the Kremlin announced. The ceasefire is set to begin at 16:00 Moscow time on Saturday and last until the end of Sunday, though Russian troops are to remain ready to respond to any Ukrainian offensives or provocations, with orders issued to Defense Minister Andrey Belousov and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
The Kremlin statement emphasized that Moscow expects Kyiv to follow Russia’s lead during the truce. This is part of a pattern of Russia declaring unilateral pauses during Orthodox religious holidays throughout the Ukraine conflict. In 2023, for instance, Russia observed truces over both Orthodox Christmas in January and Easter in April, under the initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church.
However, past attempts at holiday truces have been only partially effective. In 2024, no pause was declared, with Putin arguing that Kyiv could use the respite to regroup and rearm. During the 2025 Easter truce, hostilities briefly decreased, but the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Kyiv violated the ceasefire more than 3,900 times. Previous Ukrainian leadership, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, has rejected calls for temporary truces, such as those proposed by Hungary for Christmas, reflecting the continued fragility of holiday ceasefires amid the broader conflict.
