The Japan Times - 'I wanted it to work': Ukrainians disappointed by Easter truce

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops Saturday afternoon to "stop all hostilities" for the duration of the religious holiday.

While both sides reported a dip in fighting, they accused each other of hundreds of violations over the 30-hour period.

Air raid sirens rang out in Kyiv shortly after Putin's announcement -- and again in the early hours of Monday, when Russia resumed its drone strikes.

"I really wanted it to work," said Svitlana, a 65-year-old accountant in the Ukrainian capital.

"In fact, it didn't. But at least it was a little bit quieter, and that's good. At least people could bless Easter cakes and go to church," she added.

Putin announced the truce after weeks of public appeals from US President Donald Trump to stop the war, and while it fell far short of his call for a fully-fledged ceasefire, Svitlana suspected Putin was trying to placate the US leader.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and now occupies around 20 percent of the country.

"I think that Putin is flirting with America, like: 'Look, I am such a nice guy'," she told AFP.

"In fact, there was no ceasefire."

- 'Everyone is tired' -

At a makeshift memorial commemorating fallen soldiers on Kyiv's Maidan Square, a few Ukrainians came to lay flowers on Easter Monday.

Standing in front of a sea of blue and yellow flags, combat instructor Viktor Danylchuk came to pay tribute to his friends killed on the front line.

He said the truce was "positive".

"Because people are really exhausted, everyone is tired, everyone wants to go home to pay attention to their families."

"Clearly, we were a little surprised by this situation, given that the Russians always promise one thing and do something completely different," he told AFP.

He said Russia kept up its attacks, regardless of Putin's announcement.

"My comrades at the front noticed that there was less shelling yesterday, but that it continued nonetheless."

Valentyna welcomed the truce but was also sceptical.

"To be honest, my friends and I were happy with the truce, even if we didn't believe in it all the way, because we wanted people to show a little humanity," the 49-year-old said.

Vitaly, a 39-year-old staff sergeant in the Ukrainian army, said he had "no faith" it would lead to anything.

"Nothing has changed," he said. "Its just words".

- 'Banal propaganda' -

On the front line, fighting decreased in some areas but has since resumed, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

Ukrainian medic Dmytro Podobriy told AFP in east Ukraine that while shelling of cities had decreased, the "volume" of attacks on the front line had not gone down.

"Russia has never kept its demands, its agreements," the 32-year-old said.

Ukrainian military analysts were also sceptical.

"The front may still be burning, but the public narrative in Russia and abroad will be different," military analyst Oleksiy Kopytko said on Facebook.

Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said the truce was a "banal propaganda action".

"The main goal of this 'peacekeeping action' ... is to set Ukraine up, to show Trump that Putin wants peace and that Zelensky is against it," he said.

Most Ukrainians, exasperated with the fighting, want a long-term peace settlement that secures their interests instead of a short-term truce.

When asked about whether she would accept peace "at any price", Valentyna, visiting the memorial in Kyiv, wept.

"In every family, there are people who have died. That's why peace 'at any price' is not appropriate," she said.

"That's the way it is. This sentence does not reflect my attitude towards war. It's time to put an end to it."

K.Inoue--JT