‘We need real peace’: Easter truce fails to lift grim mood in war-torn Ukraine
Orthodox Easter Truce Falters as Fighting Continues in Ukraine
The agreement for a temporary pause in hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, set to begin on Saturday, was short-lived. Just 38 minutes after it took effect, air raid alarms pierced the skies over the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine. Despite the truce’s intention to grant a respite, frontline forces reported several instances of ceasefire breaches, though none involved long-range missiles or drones. This pause, meant to last until Easter Monday, marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
“Easter should be a time of safety, a time of peace,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted, vowing that his forces would retaliate “strictly in kind” if Moscow violated the truce.
A Church Service Amidst War
As the truce commenced, families in Kharkiv gathered at St John the Theologian Church to honor the holiday. They carried baskets of iced cakes, painted eggs, and sausage for blessings, lining up for a ritual doused in holy water. The traditional midnight ceremony was moved to mid-afternoon due to curfews, yet the damage to the church—sustained at the war’s start—remains visible, with one side of its windows still covered in boards.
“Do you believe them?” Fr Viktor asked, reflecting on the significance of the Russian ceasefire. A parishioner, Larisa, noted, “Maybe there will be a pause, but Russia will only strike harder. We’ve seen this before.”
Military Preparations and Resilience
At a training site near the Russian border, members of the Yasni Ochi UAV unit, part of the Khartia Corps, tested new equipment. They loaded kamikaze drones with explosives and practiced dive attacks. Commander Heorhiy ordered his troops to remain vigilant unless under attack, anticipating renewed assaults. Meanwhile, soldiers on rotation used drones to deliver Easter treats to comrades at the front, a small gesture of solidarity amid the chaos.
The training village, once occupied by Russian forces in 2022, now lies in ruins. Heorhiy emphasized that Ukraine cannot halt its efforts until it secures better terms in talks with Russia. “We need real peace talks,” he stated, citing the Middle East conflict as a precedent where nations sought Ukraine’s drone expertise. However, the US-led peace process has stalled, with Trump’s envoys shifting focus to the Iran war.
“It’s not our choice. I don’t like war, my guys don’t like it. We used to have a good civilian life,” Heorhiy recalled, adding that some in his unit were DJs from Dnipro’s underground music scene before the war.
Broken Homes and Unending Fear
Returning to Kharkiv, the ring road is now draped in netting to deter Russian drones. Yet, missiles still strike homes in the area, leaving little time for air defenses to react. In one suburb, several five-story buildings were reduced to rubble, while others remain boarded up and uninhabitable. Last month, a missile attack killed 11 people, destroying an entire section of a residential block.
Amid the wreckage, a single red rug hangs on a living-room wall, and photographs of the deceased lie nearby. Olha, a neighbor, recounted the night of the attack, when she and her elderly mother huddled in a corridor. She shared a video showing flames consuming the building across the street and her own flat in pieces. “This truce is only 1.5 days. But at least we can rest a bit,” she said. “Here, you expect to die every second.”
