‘We need real peace’: Easter truce fails to lift grim mood in war-torn Ukraine

We need real peace

On Saturday afternoon, an Orthodox Easter truce between Russia and Ukraine commenced, only to be interrupted 38 minutes later by air raid sirens in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine. Despite the agreement, military and officials have noted several ceasefire breaches along the frontlines, though no long-range missile or drone strikes have been reported. The pause in hostilities is meant to last until Easter Monday, offering a brief respite after over four years of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

As the truce began, families in Kharkiv gathered at St John the Theologian Church for a traditional Easter blessing. They carried baskets filled with iced cakes, painted eggs, and sausage, lining up around the building to receive holy water from the parish priest. The service, usually held just before midnight, was shifted to mid-afternoon due to ongoing curfews. “Do you believe them?” Fr Viktor asked when questioned about the truce’s significance. He pointed out that the church itself had been damaged at the start of the war, with windows still boarded on one side.

A few miles away, at a military training ground near the Russian border, members of the Yasni Ochi strike UAV unit were testing new equipment. The troops, part of the Khartia corps, loaded kamikaze drones with explosives and practiced dive attacks. Their commander, Heorhiy, instructed them to remain alert during the 32-hour ceasefire unless under direct assault. “Russia says one thing, then does the other. So you have to be ready,” he emphasized. Meanwhile, those on rotation used drones to deliver Easter cakes and alcohol-free wine to comrades at the front, a small gesture in a war that has taken much.

Returning to Kharkiv, the city’s ring road was now draped in netting designed to snare Russian drones and protect vehicles below. Yet, this measure offers little against the threat of missiles striking residential areas. Just south of the city, several five-storey flats had been reduced to rubble, while others remained boarded up and uninhabitable. Last month, a missile attack killed 11 people in the early hours, destroying a section of a building. Among the ruins, a single red rug remained pinned to a wall, and nearby lay photographs of two victims. Olha, a neighbor, recounted how she and her elderly mother had taken shelter in a corridor that night. “This truce is only 1.5 days,” she said, “but at least we can rest a bit. Here, you expect to die every second.”

“Easter should be a time of safety, a time of peace,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, warning that Ukrainian forces would retaliate “strictly in kind” to any Russian actions.

Heorhiy, the commander, remains hopeful that the truce could lead to meaningful negotiations. He cited the Middle East conflict as a reason for optimism, noting that Ukraine has become a key supplier of drone technology and expertise. However, the US-led peace process has stalled, with Trump’s envoys redirected to address tensions with Iran. Ukraine continues to demand stronger security guarantees from its allies, particularly assurances about potential future Russian attacks. “It’s not our choice,” Heorhiy said. “I don’t like war, my guys don’t like it. We used to have a good civilian life—now we do what we need to do.”