Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a «Easter ceasefire».

According to his statement, all military actions will be halted from 18:00 on April 19 until 00:00 on April 21.

Putin indicated that he has ordered to «cease all hostilities» during this period.

«We hope that the Ukrainian side will follow our example,» he added.

At the same time, he emphasized that Russian forces «must be prepared to respond to any violations of the ceasefire and provocations».

As of 17:30, Ukrainian authorities had not commented on the Russian initiative.