Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a unilateral Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, ordering his forces to cease hostilities on Saturday at 18 p.m. Moscow time (15 p.m. CET) until the end of Sunday.
Ukraine did not comment after the Putim decision.
"Based on humanitarian considerations... the Russian side declares an Easter ceasefire. I order the suspension of all military activities during this period," Putin told Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov at a meeting in the Kremlin.
"We are assuming that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be ready to repel possible ceasefire violations and provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive actions," Putin added.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it had issued ceasefire orders to all unit commanders in the "special military operation" zone, the Kremlin's term for the war.
Russian troops will respect the ceasefire provided that Ukraine also "mutually respects it," the ministry said in a statement.
Bonus video:
