During a meeting at the Kremlin, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief heard a report from the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, on the situation along the line of contact and announced that the Russian side would halt all combat operations from 6:00 p.m. on April 19 until midnight on April 21.

“Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 6 p.m. until midnight from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side is declaring an Easter truce. I order that all combat operations be halted during this period. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our forces must be ready to repel any violations of the truce, provocations, or aggressive actions by the enemy.”