Vladimir Putin announces a ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter holidays.Image: keystone
04/10/2026, 09:0604/10/2026, 09:06
On the occasion of Orthodox Easter this weekend, the weapons in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine should be suspended for a moment. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin announced a ceasefire from Saturday afternoon throughout Sunday, the Kremlin announced. In Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj confirmed the plan and wrote on social media: “We have proposed a ceasefire over the Easter holidays this year and will act accordingly.” Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia will not celebrate Easter until next Sunday (April 12).
Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov have been ordered to stop fighting in all directions for the period of the ceasefire, the Kremlin said. The troops should be ready to respond to possible provocations, it said.
Zelensky, on the other hand, said that people need an Easter without threats and a real movement towards peace, and that Russia has the chance not to return to attacks even after Easter. Ukraine has repeatedly said that it is ready to take mirror-image steps. Since the end of March, Zelensky has repeatedly proposed a ceasefire over Easter.
Not the first temporary ceasefire
With Western help, Ukraine has been defending itself against a large-scale Russian invasion for more than four years. There have already been several attempts to silence the weapons for a limited time. Last year, Putin announced a 30-hour ceasefire over Easter and there was also a ceasefire over the World War Remembrance Days in May. However, the Kremlin chief rejected a Christmas ceasefire. In the past, both sides accused each other of violations.
No breakthrough in previous discussions
While Kiev sees a ceasefire as a step closer to ending the war, Moscow wants to resolve conflict issues first. Among other things, Russia is demanding that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the part of Donbass that is not yet controlled by Moscow. Kyiv repeatedly rejected this.
Washington is trying to broker an end to the war in Ukraine. Teams from Ukraine and Russia recently met for direct discussions in the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland. However, the meetings at which the USA sat at the table as mediator did not produce a breakthrough. The warring parties then exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war. The Iran War delayed a new round in the format.
Before the statements from Moscow and Kiev about an Easter ceasefire, the warring parties exchanged soldiers’ bodies again on Thursday. Kiev received the remains of 1,000 soldiers, Moscow those of 41, MP Shamsail Saraliyev told the Russian news portal “rbc.ru”. The Coordination Staff for Prisoner of War Affairs in Kiev confirmed on Telegram that Ukraine had received 1,000 bodies that, according to Russian information, may belong to Ukrainian defenders. Moscow and Kyiv repeatedly exchange bodies of fallen soldiers.
Russia is taking action against human rights activists
In parallel to its war of aggression, Russia is also continuing to take action against critical voices internally. The Supreme Court on Thursday classified the human rights group Memorial as extremist and banned it. It was founded by the Russian dissident and 1975 Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov. Memorial was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 along with laureates from Ukraine and Belarus.
Masked security forces also searched the editorial office of the anti-government media “Novaya Gazeta” in Moscow on Thursday. The journalists wrote on Telegram that the search lasted 13 hours. Technical equipment and documents were taken. A journalist from Novaya Gazeta was arrested for 48 hours. His home was also reportedly searched. Novaya Gazeta was founded in Moscow in 1993, partly with money from former Soviet President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Michael Gorbachev. For a long time, the editor-in-chief was Dmitri Muratov, who himself received the award in 2021. (sda/dpa)