Russia News: Putin and Zelenskyy back Orthodox Easter truce

Russia News moved quickly on Thursday night as Vladimir Putin announced a 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire, saying Russian forces were ordered to stop fighting in all directions. Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded that Ukraine was ready for symmetrical steps, after repeated calls for a pause had been ignored. The truce is set to begin at 16: 00 local time on Saturday, 11 April, and run through Easter Sunday.

Ceasefire announced after repeated calls

Putin said the temporary halt would cover Orthodox Easter and that he expected Ukraine to “follow the example” of Russia. He also told his forces to be ready for possible enemy provocations and any aggressive actions. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the ceasefire was exclusively humanitarian in nature and limited to this period.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine had already proposed a holiday weekend truce and would act accordingly. He wrote that people need an Easter free from threats and a real move toward peace, adding that Russia has a chance not to return to strikes after Easter as well. The announcement came after a long stretch of requests from Kyiv for a ceasefire that had not been accepted.

Russia News meets battlefield caution

For now, the announcement remains a narrow test rather than a sign of a wider breakthrough. The context is stark: civilians continue to be killed and injured in strikes across Ukraine, including recent deaths in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and other regions, while the military governor in Odesa reported drone attacks almost the entire night with damage to energy and port infrastructure.

Any pause would also matter for soldiers along the front line in eastern Ukraine, where attack drones have kept pressure constant. In Kyiv, air raid sirens sounded again shortly after the weekend truce was announced, underscoring how fragile the situation remains.

Immediate reactions and what

Putin cast the move as a Russian ceasefire and said troops should intercept possible provocations. Zelenskyy framed the moment as a chance for real movement toward peace and said Ukraine would match Russia’s step.

Around the same time, the Kremlin said the truce would not become permanent. It stressed that the order only covers the Easter period and that military units should stay alert during the pause.

What this means next

Russia News now turns to whether the truce is actually observed once it begins on Saturday afternoon ET-equivalent timing is fixed by local time in the announcement, and both sides have already signaled suspicion. Past short pauses have been followed by renewed fighting, and Ukrainians are likely to judge this one by whether the strikes stop, even briefly, over Easter.

The next developments will be watched closely across the front line and in cities still under regular air alert. If the ceasefire holds, even briefly, it could create the first official pause of this kind in the current phase of the war; if it fails, it will deepen doubts about any near-term path to peace. Russia News will remain focused on whether the promise becomes a real halt in fighting or another short-lived declaration.