Zürcher Nachrichten - Ukraine and Russia will cease fire for Orthodox Easter

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 Zelensky 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 (13:00 GMT) on April 11 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, Zelensky responded that "Ukraine has repeatedly stated that we are prepared to take reciprocal measures. We proposed a ceasefire this year during the Easter holidays and will act accordingly."

"People need an Easter free from threats and real progress toward peace, and Russia has a chance to avoid returning to hostilities after Easter," he added.

Putin have instructed the Russian General Staff "to cease combat operations in all directions for this period," the Kremlin said, adding that troops were ready to "counter any possible provocations by the enemy".

"We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation."

The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

- Slow advances -

Over the past few years, fighting on the front has come to a near standstill. Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost.

But Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Apart from Ukrainian counter-attacks, analysts attributed the slowdown to Russia being banned from using SpaceX's Starlink satellites and Moscow's own efforts to block the Telegram messaging app.

The satellite and the messaging app were widely used by troops for communications, especially for coordinating drone attacks that have come to dominate the war.

The situation is, however, unfavourable for Ukraine in the Donetsk region, towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to the ISW.

Moscow wants Ukraine to pull troops from both cities without a fight as part of any peace accord.

Ukraine has in recent days stepped up assaults on Russian energy targets, especially oil-exporting ports after prices spiked on the back of the Middle East war.

Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement and US attention is now focused on Iran.

The negotiations have become deadlocked, with Moscow demanding territorial and political concessions that Zelensky has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation.

Moscow occupies just over 19 percent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.

M.J.Baumann--NZN