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

We Need Real Peace: Easter Truce Fails to Lift Grim Mood in War-Torn Ukraine

The Orthodox Easter truce between Russia and Ukraine began on Saturday afternoon, but just 38 minutes later, air raid sirens pierced the skies over the Kharkiv region. Despite the pause in hostilities, the frontline saw repeated ceasefire breaches, though no long-range missile or drone strikes were reported. The agreement, set to last until Easter Monday, aims to provide a brief respite after four years of full-scale war.

At St John the Theologian Church in Kharkiv, families gathered to prepare for Easter, bringing baskets filled with iced cakes, painted eggs, and sausages for a blessing. They lined up around the building to receive holy water from the parish priest, a tradition usually held at midnight. This year, however, the ceremony took place mid-afternoon due to ongoing curfews. “Do you believe them?” Fr Viktor asked when questioned about the truce’s significance, highlighting the skepticism lingering among locals.

Meanwhile, military personnel near the Russian border tested new equipment at a training ground. Members of the Yasni Ochi strike UAV unit, part of the Khartia corps, practiced launching kamikaze drones. Their commander, Heorhiy, instructed his troops to remain vigilant, ready to respond if attacked. “Russia says one thing, then does the other. So you have to be ready,” he explained, reflecting the unit’s preparedness amid uncertainty.

Back in Kharkiv, the ring road was draped in netting to snag Russian drones, but missiles still struck homes. In one suburb, five-storey apartment blocks lay in ruins, with others boarded up and uninhabitable. Last month, an entire section of a building collapsed under a missile attack, killing 11 people. Among the debris, a red rug remained pinned to a wall, and photographs of the victims were scattered nearby. Olha, a neighbor, recounted how she and her mother took shelter in a corridor that night, as flames engulfed the building opposite.

“This truce is only 1.5 days. But at least we can rest a bit, because here, you expect to die every second,” Olha said, expressing her yearning for calm. She emphasized the urgent need for peace, a sentiment echoed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who tweeted: “Easter should be a time of safety, a time of peace. Ukraine will respond strictly in kind to any actions by Moscow.”

Heorhiy, the unit’s commander, noted that Ukraine’s push for peace talks is tied to its demand for stronger security guarantees from allies. “We need real peace talks,” he stated, adding that the war in the Middle East has drawn attention to Ukraine’s drone expertise. However, the US-led peace process has stalled, with Trump’s envoys now focused on Iran. “It’s not our choice. I don’t like war, my guys don’t like it. We used to have good civilian life,” Heorhiy said, recalling how several of his unit were once DJs in Dnipro’s underground music scene.

Residents like Larisa, a parishioner, remain wary. “But then Russia will only launch even more intense attacks. We’ve seen that before,” she warned, underscoring the fragile hope for the truce. As the ceasefire wavers, the battle for real peace continues, with Ukraine’s forces balancing between anticipation and readiness for the next assault.