Ukraine and Russia will cease fire for Orthodox Easter

Ukraine and Russia will cease fire for the Orthodox Easter holidays, the warring countries’ leaders said on Thursday, announcing a rare 32-hour halt in fighting.

The four-year war previously saw limited and short truces, but Moscow and Kyiv were quick to trade accusations of violations.

With talks on ending the four-year-old conflict derailed by the Middle East war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that he had made a holiday truce proposal through the United States.

In a statement late on Thursday, the Kremlin said that “a ceasefire is declared from 16:00 on 11 April until the end of the day on 12 April 2026” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, “in connection with the approaching Orthodox feast of Easter.”

The Kremlin’s statement made no mention of Kyiv’s initial proposal.

Hours later, Zelenskyy responded that “Ukraine has repeatedly stated that we are prepared to take reciprocal measures. We proposed a ceasefire this year during the Easter…