Putin declares unilateral 30-hour Easter ceasefire

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday declared a 30-hour unilateral ceasefire for the conflict in Ukraine.

Meeting in the Kremlin with Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Putin said the ceasefire would begin at 6 pm Moscow time on Saturday and conclude at 12 midnight on Sunday.

"For humanitarian reasons, the Russian side is declaring an Easter (Sunday) ceasefire today … I order a halt to all military operations for this period," he said.

The president stressed his expectation that the opposing party would participate in this initiative, stating that the ceasefire’s success or failure would demonstrate Ukraine's readiness and capacity to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

"Russian troops must be prepared to repel possible violations of the ceasefire and provocations by the opponent," he said.

The previous 30-day moratorium on military strikes on energy infrastructure showed a clear absence inclination by Kyiv towards finding solutions via peaceful negotiations, he said, adding that Ukrainian forces had breached it over 100 times.

Putin says Ukrainian troops present already in 2 Russian regions

Putin claimed the situation on the battlefield "is progressing favorably" for Russia, with its forces steadily advancing from their positions.

At the same time, he said, Ukrainian troops are present not only in Russia's Kursk region but also in Belgorod.

"Please report separately on the border area, the Kursk and the Belgorod regions as soon as combat action to clean up these territories is completed," Putin told Gerasimov, the military chief.

For his part, Gerasimov said all Russia's six army groups are currently "on the offensive along 11 theaters of action."

"Army group North has been on the offensive to liberate districts in the Kursk Region which were invaded by the Ukrainian armed forces. Most of the invaded territory has been liberated. As of today, the liberated area is 1,260 square kilometers (486 square miles), which amounts to 99.5 percent of the invaded territory," he said.

Commenting on the presence of Ukrainian troops in the Belgorod region, Gerasimov said they launched an incursion near the settlements of Demidovka and Popovka.

Ukrainian troops were pushed back from Demidovka , while isolated small groups of up to 12 personnel remain in the forests south of the village of Popovka.