Putin announces surprise Easter ceasefire as a 'test for Kyiv regime'

Remarks on state TV greeted with scepticism after coinciding with air raid alert in Ukraine

- Luke Harding

Vladimir Putin has announced an "Easter truce", saying that Russian forces would stop combat operations in Ukraine from 6pm Moscow time yesterday until midnight today.

In a surprise move, Russia's president said he was ordering a temporary halt to the fighting out of "humanitarian considerations". He said he expected Ukraine to follow suit, and that this would be a test of whether the "regime" in Kyiv was interested in peace.

Putin made his remarks in a meeting with Russia's commander-in-chief, Valery Gerasimov, which was broadcast on state television. Ukrainians reacted sceptically, pointing out the announcement had been made at the same time as an air raid alert sounded across the Kyiv region.

Russia has broken numerous ceasefires since its covert invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. Unlike Ukraine, it has refused to implement a 30-day pause in fighting proposed more than a month ago by the Trump administration.