Putin publicizes ceasefire in Ukraine over Orthodox Easter weekend – days after Zelensky accused Moscow of selecting ‘Easter escalation’
Vladimir Putin has announced a ceasefire with Ukraine for the duration of the Orthodox Easter holidays.
The Russian president’s decision was put out by the Kremlin on Thursday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that he had passed a holiday truce proposal via the US – as talks to end the four-year conflict were derailed by the Middle East war.
‘A ceasefire is declared from 16:00 (13:00 GMT) on 11 April until the end of the day on 12 April 2026’ by Putin, ‘in connection with the approaching Orthodox feast of Easter,’ the Kremlin said in a statement.
The General Staff ‘has been instructed to cease combat operations in all directions for this period,’ the Kremlin said, adding that troops were ready to ‘counter any possible provocations by the enemy’.
‘We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation.’
The move from Russia comes days after Zelensky accused Moscow of choosing ‘Easter escalation’ over an Easter ceasefire after Russia carried out a deadly drone attack on Ukraine.
Six people were killed and 40 others injured over the weekend as Russia launched drones and missiles across the nation.
Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement, further stalling as Washington’s attention shifted to Iran.
Vladimir Putin has announced a ceasefire with Ukraine for the duration of the Orthodox Easter holidays
The Russia-Ukraine war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions, making it the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. Pictured: Russian servicemen fire a sel-propelled gun at an undisclosed location in Ukraine
The negotiations also appeared to be deadlocked, with Moscow demanding territorial and political concessions from Kyiv that Zelensky has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation.
The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions, making it the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Previous attempts to secure ceasefires have had little or no impact. Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour ceasefire last Easter, but each side accused the other of breaking it.
The developments in the Russia-Ukraine war come after the US and Iran agreed to a fragile two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump swerved to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal or face attacks on its bridges and power plants meant to destroy Iranian ‘civilisation’.
Though both the United States and Iran declared victory in a five-week-old war that has killed thousands, their core disputes remained unresolved, with each side sticking to competing demands for a deal that could shape the Middle East for generations.
The US and Israel have claimed the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, where Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a major ground and air invasion.
But Iran and mediators Pakistan said the peace plan included the ‘complete cessation of war in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen’.
Iranians attended the 40th-day memorial ceremony of Iran’s former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Thursday
Trump has hailed a ‘total and complete victory’ in its war with Iran after reaching a ceasefire agreement on Tuesday night
On Wednesday, Israel intensified its bombing campaign over Lebanon, killing 182 people as it claimed to hit more than 100 Hezbollah sites in some of the heaviest strikes of the war yet.
Doubts over the state of the ceasefire came as thousands of Iranians gathered in the streets to commemorate the death of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Supporters of Khamenei held portraits of their deceased leader and waved the flags of the Islamic republic as they took part in rallies across the country after he died in the US-Israeli attack on February 28.
The celebration marks a 40-day mourning period – an important rite of passage for Muslims – since the former leader’s death.
A huge gathering took place in the capital, Tehran, where strikes have ceased since a fragile ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday night, as well as in the northwest city of Urmia and the northeast city of Gorgan.
Khamenei was 86 years old, having led the Islamic republic for more than 36 years, when he was killed in a strike on February 28.
The attack marked the beginning of a conflict that subsequently engulfed the entire Middle East, with Iran retaliating with missile and drone attacks on Israel and Gulf nations it accuses of serving as launchpads for US strikes.
A state funeral for Khamenei was initially announced but could ultimately not be held because of the war.
A fireball rises from a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in the area of Abbasiyeh, on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. The Israeli military is still launching attacks, as Israel said the ceasefire with Iran did not include its conflict with Hezbollah
His son Mojtaba, who succeeded him in early March, was not present on Thursday. He was wounded in a strike, according to Iranian officials, and has yet to appear in public since his appointment.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian participated in the tribute and posed for photos with attendees, according to images broadcast on state television.
The national tribute began at 9.40am (6.10am GMT), the same time that strikes killed Khamenei at his residence in Tehran along with dozens of high-ranking officers and officials.
Some Iranians taking part in the memorial claimed the agreement of a ceasefire between Iran and the US and Israel marked a ‘victory’ for the regime.
Both sides have since claimed military triumph, with Trump hailing a ‘total and complete victory’ and Iran boasting of a ‘victory in the field’.
