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Putin Announces Easter Ceasefire in Ukraine as Fighting Escalates in Kursk Region
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, April 19, 2025, declared a temporary Easter ceasefire in the ongoing war with Ukraine. The truce, announced by the Kremlin, is set to begin at 6 p.m. Moscow time (3 p.m. GMT) on Saturday and will last until midnight following Easter Sunday (April 21, 2025).
“Guided by humanitarian considerations, I order that all military operations cease during this period,” President Putin stated during a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, as quoted by the Kremlin’s press office. He expressed hope that Ukraine would reciprocate, while warning Russian forces to remain vigilant against any “violations or provocations.”
The ceasefire announcement came just hours after Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have recaptured the village of Oleshnya in the Kursk region, a border zone that saw a surprise Ukrainian incursion last year. However, Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the loss, and the Associated Press has yet to independently verify the claim.
Fierce battles are reportedly still raging in the nearby village of Gornal, approximately 11 kilometers south of Oleshnya, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. The agency added that Russian and North Korean troops have been working to push Ukrainian forces out and reassert full control over the region.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Russia-Ukraine negotiations were “coming to a head.” He dismissed concerns about being misled, stating that both parties were serious about ending the three-year conflict. However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Washington might abandon peace talks if tangible progress isn’t made soon.
This isn’t the first time Russia has proposed a temporary ceasefire on religious grounds. In January 2023, Putin declared a 36-hour truce for Orthodox Christmas, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed as a tactic to regroup Russian troops.
As diplomacy remains uncertain, violence on the ground continues. Ukraine’s Air Force reported intercepting 33 out of 87 drones launched by Russia overnight into Saturday. Many others were believed to have been jammed electronically.
Russian strikes also damaged farms in Odesa and sparked fires in the Sumy region, although no casualties were reported, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Meanwhile, Russia’s air defenses claimed to have shot down two Ukrainian drones on the same night.
With active military engagements still unfolding, the brief Easter truce may offer little more than a pause in a grinding and complex conflict.
