Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced Saturday, though it was not immediately clear whether Ukraine had been informed of the decision ahead of time.
«Out of humanitarian considerations, Russia is declaring an Easter ceasefire from 6:00 p.m. [Moscow time] today until midnight Sunday into Monday. I am ordering all combat operations to be halted during this period,» Putin said in a televised meeting with Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
«At the same time, our forces must remain ready to respond to any ceasefire violations or provocations by the enemy, as well as to any aggressive actions,» the Kremlin leader added.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine.
During the meeting, Gerasimov told Putin that all six Russian military groupings are currently advancing along 11 fronts in eastern and southern Ukraine.
He also claimed that 99.5% of the Kursk region has been «liberated,» adding that Russian forces continued counteroffensive operations to clear the border region of Ukrainian forces.
Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops had captured the second-to-last village in the Kursk region still held by Ukrainian forces, coming just weeks after Moscow staged a surprise attack in the key border town of Sudzha.