Putin attends Easter service in Moscow as Ukraine reports attacks despite ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin attended an Easter service in Moscow on April 20, just hours after the Kremlin declared a temporary ceasefire on the Easter weekend, ordering a halt to all military action from 6 p.m. Moscow time on April 19 until midnight on April 21.

The ceremony took place at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and was led by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a staunch supporter of both Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Despite the Kremlin’s claims of a holiday ceasefire, Ukraine reported ongoing Russian attacks on April 20. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian forces conducted 387 shellings and 19 assault operations against Ukraine between 6 p.m. and midnight. Russian forces used drones at least 290 times, according to Zelensky.

A video of the service showed Putin standing beside Sobyanin, holding a thin red candle, and wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and red tie—his traditional Easter attire in previous years. The service, a major ritual for Orthodox Christians, began late Saturday and continued into the early hours of Sunday.

For Putin, the Orthodox faith plays a central role in his worldview, and he regularly attends services during major religious holidays. Easter is considered the most important date on the Orthodox Christian calendar.

According to the state-run RIA Novosti agency, Patriarch Kirill used the opportunity to make a political and spiritual appeal, calling for a "lasting and just peace" in what he referred to as "the vast expanses of historical Rus," a medieval region encompassing parts of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.

Patriarch Kirill has been one of the war’s most vocal religious backers inside Russia. He has repeatedly defended the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year. Since February 2022, Russia’s invasion has killed tens of thousands—most of them Ukrainians—and displaced millions from their homes.