Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Russia to agree to a ceasefire over the Easter holidays, as both sides continue sending drones and missiles across the border day and night. Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for a truce during Easter and argued that a lasting peace would be in the interest of “normal people who respect life.” At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine is willing to make compromises but will not accept concessions affecting its dignity and sovereignty.
In Russia and Ukraine, the vast majority of the population is Orthodox Christian. Orthodox Easter (Pascha) falls on April 16 this year, while Roman Catholic and Protestant churches will celebrate Easter on April 5. Full ceasefires, even short ones, have rarely held during more than four years of war; however, the two sides have at times agreed to pauses lasting days or weeks in attacks on energy infrastructure, which is seen as a possible starting point for limited de-escalation.
Zelensky said Ukraine would not strike Russia’s energy facilities if Russia stops hitting Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Last year, there was an attempt to implement a Pascha ceasefire called for by President Vladimir Putin, but both sides accused the other of widespread violations. Putin reportedly attends the lengthy Orthodox Pascha vigil each year, while Zelensky is Jewish, was elected in 2019 as Ukraine’s first Jewish president, and has since faced accusations of persecuting Ukrainian Orthodox believers who maintain spiritual ties to the Moscow Patriarchate.
As diplomatic efforts continue, strikes on energy targets have persisted. Reports last week said Russia set a record for the war’s largest single-day drone assault on Ukraine. At least seven people were killed in Ukraine last Tuesday when Russia launched a large-scale attack; combining drones and cruise missiles, 979 warheads reportedly entered Ukrainian airspace.
Source: ZeroHedge