Putin’s “Easter truce” was another deliberate deception in the arsenal of propaganda and armed warfare that Russia has been waging against Ukraine. Neither sincerity nor peace was the intention or content of this announcement — it was a mask for the continuation of terror. While the Russian president was announcing a gesture of “humanity” and “respect for spiritual values” at Easter this year, the worst attacks of 2025 were taking place in Ukrainian cities at the same time. In just 30 hours, there were more than 2,000 violations of the “truce”. This figure, which has been confirmed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and independent observers, clearly refutes any illusions about the Russian regime’s willingness to make any kind of peace.
What happened was not an incident. It is a strategy. This attempt at false de-escalation is part of a broader matrix of Russian hybrid operations that use religion, media, and international vacuum to create the image of a reasonable, “negotiating” Putin. And this is where we get to the heart of the problem: the Russian regime is no longer just waging a war against Ukraine but against truth and common sense. The Kremlin is not looking for peace. It is demanding capitulation.
Putin’s logic does not change: he uses the sacred to destroy the sacred. During the “Easter truce,” the energy infrastructure in Ukraine was attacked. Ukrainian air defense forces intercepted over 60 Iranian “Shahed-136” drones, while dozens of missiles fired from Tu-95 bombers hit civilian facilities. While millions of worshippers lit candles, Putin fired at substations.
This is not a “gesture of goodwill.” It is the cynicism of the military-intelligence complex turned into a tactic. It is an attempt to quiet the international community with a narrative about Russia’s alleged willingness to engage in dialog while the most intensive offensive since early 2024 is being carried out.
The world has seen this tactic before. Each time, the world has reacted in the same way: slowly, lukewarmly, and defensively. This is no longer naivety—this is complicity.
Western leaders continue to calculate despite a series of warnings and obvious evidence. The Ukrainian economy is under extreme pressure. The Ukrainian Central Bank reported that losses due to damage to energy and transportation capacities amounted to more than $1.2 billion in April. The UNHCR states that the number of internally displaced people has increased by over 210,000 this spring alone.
These are not numbers. These are people. They have faces, biographies, and lost futures. And the world is still “assessing options.”
And while Putin plays the peacemaker, America has a president who does not destroy this image but rather lends it legitimacy. Donald Trump, who has not shown the slightest strategic understanding of the nature of Russian aggression since the beginning of his second term, has become a key factor in weakening the West’s collective response.
His statements that he could “end the war in 24 hours” are no longer eccentricity but a clearly coded message: Kyiv should prepare for pressure, and Moscow should continue with it. When the US president avoids calling Russia the aggressor and calls into question aid to Ukraine, he is not standing on the sidelines—he is standing on the wrong side of history.
A US National Security Council report reveals that more than $2.4 billion in aid to Ukraine has been suspended in administrative proceedings—without explanation. The Pentagon openly warns that delays in the delivery of artillery ammunition and air defense equipment are endangering the front lines. This is no longer passivity. This is direct damage.
Europe, on the other hand, acts as if it has unlimited time. In Germany, the debate about the Taurus missile system is turning into a political soap opera. In France, President Macron seems to be keeping a diary of objections to Ukrainian gratitude. In Italy, attention is shifting to internal disputes while the front in Ukraine is collapsing.
In such a confusion, Ukraine’s only consistent lines of defense remain the Baltic countries, Poland, and the Nordic countries. Their determination is not the result of rhetoric but of experience. They know that Ukraine is fighting today for their peace tomorrow. Unfortunately, the rest of Europe is not yet aware of this.
Putin, however, is counting on something else—that the world will get tired. That the numbers will get boring. That the bombs will lose their moral force because they last too long.
And the reality is brutal: the Russian offensive in the east is gaining momentum. Ukrainian commanders on the ground openly admit that the gap between aid promised and aid delivered is becoming critical. And when aid is delayed, people die.
Putin knows that his most important ally is no longer brutality but inertia. Slow bureaucracy. Divided political will. Obsession with polls and elections, rather than with truth and action.
That is why we must speak clearly: Russia is not out to negotiate. Its intent is capitulation. And Donald Trump is working on it, consciously or unconsciously.
Easter should have been a moment of hope. Instead, it was a bombshell day. The world ponders whether to send another Patriot system, while Ukraine tries to survive without light, without water, without pause.
This is not a weakness of the West. It is a choice. And this choice has consequences.
If the West does not want to lose Ukraine and its own face, it must stop with the myths about “signals of goodwill” from Moscow. It must say, enough is enough! And show it with ammunition, combat systems, and political courage. Not tomorrow. Today!
Because every day of waiting is another dead city. Another lost generation. Another Easter under the bombs.
Ukraine is asking for nothing more than the right to exist. We have the choice of defending this right or leaving it to the criminals.
Putin’s ceasefire is a lie. Trump’s policy is a disgrace. And the West’s response—for now—is dangerously close to betraying the truth.
And that is the only division that remains: truth or capitulation. Ukraine has made its choice. Will the world do the same?