Putin declares ceasefire with Ukraine during Orthodox Easter celebrations

By AFP 9 April 2026, 10:49 pm

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In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videolink in Moscow on December 26, 2025. (Mikhail METZEL / POOL / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a ceasefire with Ukraine for the duration of the Orthodox Easter holidays, the Kremlin says, after Kyiv also proposed a pause in hostilities.

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 says in a statement.

The General Staff “have been instructed to cease combat operations in all directions for this period,” the Kremlin says, adding that troops are ready to “counter any possible provocations by the enemy.”