Moscow and Kyiv sign a brief Easter truce as diplomacy stalls and warfare pressures mount.
Revealed On 10 Apr 2026
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has introduced a 32-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Easter, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirming that Ukraine will honour it.
The Kremlin mentioned on Thursday that the pause in combating will start at 4pm Moscow time (13:00GMT) on Saturday and run till midnight on Sunday, protecting Easter celebrations noticed in each international locations.
Beneficial Tales
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“We proceed on the idea that the Ukrainian facet will observe the instance of the Russian Federation,” the Kremlin mentioned in an announcement.
It added that Defence Minister Andrei Belousov had instructed Chief of the Basic Workers Valery Gerasimov to halt navy operations in the course of the interval. Russian forces, nevertheless, would stay prepared to answer any violations.
Zelenskyy mentioned Ukraine had already proposed an analogous pause and would act in form.
“Ukraine has repeatedly said that we’re prepared for reciprocal steps. We proposed a ceasefire in the course of the Easter vacation this yr and can act accordingly,” he wrote on Telegram.
“Individuals want an Easter with out threats and an actual transfer in the direction of peace, and Russia has an opportunity to not return to assaults even after Easter.”
Hours after the announcement, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk area mentioned Russian artillery and aerial assaults had killed two folks.
“The enemy attacked three districts of the area nearly 30 instances with drones and artillery,” Oleksandr Ganzha mentioned on Telegram on Friday.
This weekend’s deliberate ceasefire echoes an analogous, short-lived pause declared by Moscow final yr, which each side accused one another of breaching.
The ceasefire comes as wider diplomatic efforts to finish the warfare stay stalled, with consideration in Washington shifting in the direction of escalating tensions within the Center East.
Tough months forward
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned Moscow had not mentioned the Easter proposal upfront with america, nor did it sign any instant revival of three-way peace talks.
Regardless of the restricted pause, humanitarian channels between the 2 sides stay lively. Talking from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova mentioned Russia and Ukraine not too long ago carried out one other change of troopers’ stays.
“Moscow handed over the stays of 1,000 Ukrainian troopers to Kiev in change for 41 our bodies of the Russians,” she mentioned.
“Greater than 500 our bodies of Russian servicemen have been returned this yr throughout these common exchanges and over 19,000 our bodies of Ukrainian troopers have been returned to Kiev,” she added.
These exchanges, typically mediated by Turkiye, stay one of many few functioning traces of communication between the warring sides, alongside periodic prisoner swaps.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly pushed for momentary ceasefires, together with a halt to assaults on vitality infrastructure, however mentioned Moscow had largely rejected proposals. He added that Ukraine now faces rising stress, each on the battlefield and from worldwide companions.
“This spring–summer time interval shall be fairly tough politically and diplomatically. There could also be stress on Ukraine,” Zelenskyy mentioned. “There can even be stress on the battlefield.”
He warned that the approaching months may show decisive, as Kyiv confronts each sustained Russian assaults and shifting geopolitical priorities amongst its allies.
“I imagine it will likely be very tough for us till September.”
