CNN —
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a brief Easter ceasefire in his war with Ukraine, saying “all hostilities” will pause for a two-day period.
Russian fighting will halt between 6 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday (11 a.m. ET) and midnight on Monday (5 p.m. Sunday ET), Putin said.
“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example,” he added.
The truce will help Russia determine how sincere Kyiv is about wanting to reach a ceasefire, Putin said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
posted to X shortly after the Russian leader announced the move, calling it “yet another attempt by Putin to play with human lives.”
Sirens sounded in Kyiv soon after Putin’s announcement. “At this moment, air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
“Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life,” he added.
The Ukrainian leader’s post did not make it immediately clear whether or not Kyiv will accept the truce. If it does accept, this will be the first pause in the conflict since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion. CNN has approached the presidency for comment.
Ukraine has previously been skeptical about such temporary pauses in conflict, having rejected a temporary ceasefire in January 2023 believing that Russia had ulterior motives in calling for a stop to the fighting, such as using the pause to bring in more troops.