Putin Orders Easter Ceasefire, Zelenskyy Dismisses It Amid Air Raid Alerts

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a temporary halt to hostilities during Orthodox Easter, Orda.kz reports.

According to the Kremlin, the decision was made following Putin’s meeting with the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. The Easter ceasefire will begin on April 18 at 18:00 Moscow time and remain in effect until midnight on April 21.

However, a condition was attached: 

I order all military actions to be stopped for this period. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,
 Putin stated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dubbed the announcement a “ploy to gamble with people’s lives,” pointing out that air raid sirens were already sounding across Ukraine.

General Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi just reported. Our forces remained active today in the Kursk region and are holding their positions. In the Belgorod region, our troops advanced and expanded our zone of control. And regarding yet another attempt by Putin to play with people’s lives — air raid alerts are now spreading across Ukraine,
 Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel.

He also confirmed a prisoner exchange with Russia, which had been previously announced by Moscow.

Original Author: Rustam Muratov