Ukrainians sceptical as Russia’s Putin orders Easter truce

Ukrainians on Friday were wary of Russia’s pledge to pause fighting for an Orthodox Easter ceasefire – first proposed by Kyiv – this weekend.

The Kremlin said it had ordered a temporary truce to be in effect from Saturday afternoon until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period during which Russia would stop fighting “in all directions”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the four-year war – said Kyiv was willing to reciprocate.

But in Kyiv there was scepticism over whether Moscow would keep to its promise for a rare respite in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands and decimated eastern Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

“No one believes in these fairy tales any more,” said Yevgeniy Lamakh, an IT specialist in central Kyiv. “The Russian military lie a lot, usually, as history shows. And in general, they say one thing, but in fact do something completely different,” the 29-year-old said.

The truce – according to Moscow – will start at 4pm on Saturday.