Putin declares Easter ceasefire

President Vladimir Putin declared an Easter ceasefire, the Kremlin reported.

"During a meeting in the Kremlin, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief heard a report from Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov on the situation on the line of contact and announced that the Russian side will stop all military actions from 18:00 on April 19 to 00:00 on April 21," the report said.

Russia will stop all military actions and assumes "that the Ukrainian side will follow our example." The country's army will be ready to repel possible violations by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and any other "aggressive actions."