Putin’s Bloody Easter Lie: How Russia Uses Faith to Mask War Crimes

Putin lit candles in Moscow while his drones hunted civilians in Donetsk. The Easter ceasefire was just another KGB operation.

For communists, every action was a political act. And for former members of the communist security services, every action is an operation—an opportunity to mislead, deceive, and confuse the enemy. That’s exactly what Putin’s so-called “Easter truce” was: not diplomacy, not respect for religion (which Putin has always used politically), but just another operation. His involvement in every diplomatic effort President Donald Trump makes to end the war in Ukraine is, in our view, one big special operation aimed squarely at Trump himself. The White House must finally recognize that it is the United States—not Germany, France, the EU, the UK, China, NATO, or any other entity—that is Russia’s number one enemy. Russia wants to destroy America, and every operation it engages in is designed to weaken the U.S. Not with brute force—it lacks that power, and given the corrupt nature of its system, it will never have such power—but through the “death of a thousand cuts,” a Far Eastern doctrine that settled in Russia many centuries ago with the Mongol invaders has been cherished by the Lubyanka and its operatives since forever.

A “Truce” in Name Only

On April 19, Russian notorious war criminal and dictator Vladolf Putler declared an Easter ceasefire, promising to halt “all hostilities” from 6 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday until midnight on Monday. Ostensibly, this pause was to test Ukraine’s sincerity about peace. But within hours, Ukraine reported that Russian forces continued to attack, launching fresh artillery barrages and maintaining assault operations in several areas along the front lines.

President Zelensky responded by saying that while Ukraine would mirror any genuine silence with silence, it would defend itself when attacked. He called for an extended, 30-day ceasefire—one that might actually foster trust and allow for meaningful diplomacy. Yet Moscow ignored this, just as it has ignored every previous peace overture that didn’t serve its propaganda.

The truce announcement came suspiciously close to a statement from the Trump administration expressing frustration over stalled negotiations and just after Russia claimed territorial gains near the Kursk region. It's a familiar tactic: declare peace while intensifying war, then blame the victim.

This is what Easter looked like in many cities in Ukraine.

Ceasefire Violations

By April 20, it was clear that Putin’s Easter ceasefire was a sham. President Zelensky detailed extensive violations: 26 assaults between midnight and noon alone, a doubling in the use of first-person-view (FPV) kamikaze drones, and widespread Russian aggression, especially in the Pokrovsk and Siversk directions of Donetsk.

Between 6 p.m. and midnight on April 20, Russian forces conducted 387 separate shellings, launched 19 assault operations, and deployed FPV drones at least 290 times. Civilians were not spared. In Kherson Oblast, one person was killed and four injured—during what was supposed to be a period of peace.

Minutes after Putlers' "Easter truce,' Russians launched missile and drone attacks on Chernihiv and Kherson.

Ukraine is documenting each of these violations. The pattern is undeniable: Russia wants to conduct these war crimes, they want to cause suffering, to break the opponent. Either Putin has lost control over his own military—unlikely—or he is playing the oldest game in the KGB’s book: say one thing, do another, and use the resulting confusion to weaken your enemies.

Attacks on Civilians

One particular violation, reported by The Kyiv Independent, exposes the true face of Russian warfare. Ukrainian volunteer Yevhen Tkachov was evacuating civilians from Zoria in Donetsk Oblast when his vehicle was attacked by three FPV drones. Despite making every effort to identify himself as a civilian—waving his arms, turning on emergency lights—the drones struck anyway.

The first exploded half a meter from his car. When the second came in, Tkachov and his passengers took cover in the bushes. The third drone damaged their vehicle. One civilian was wounded by shrapnel before they were rescued. This wasn’t just a violation of the ceasefire—it was a war crime, a calculated act of terror.

Yevhen Tkachov posted this video of a Russian drone attacking his van while he was evacuating civilians from an area near the front line in Donetsk Oblast on April 20 (Yevhen Tkachov on Facebook/Kyiv Independent)

So while Putin was lighting candles at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior and Patriarch Kirill sermonized about “historical Rus,” Russian drones were trying to kill volunteers evacuating women and children.

The Real Goals Behind the Lie

What we’re witnessing is not an attempt at peace but a classic act of disinformation by the Russian security apparatus. This “Easter ceasefire” wasn’t meant to stop fighting. It was designed to lull defenders into a false sense of security and give Russian propagandists something to trumpet in the media.

The religiosity of the Russian elite is nothing but a hollow shell. These are men trained in the KGB—there is no faith in their hearts, no reverence for holy days. Religion, to them, is a useful costume for deception.

Putin’s true objective is not peace in Ukraine. Even if he were to sign a truce and gain territorial concessions, he would break it the moment it suited him. What he wants is to humiliate President Trump, to discredit him in the eyes of NATO allies, and to push Ukraine away from the U.S. entirely. Putin hopes Ukrainians will grow disillusioned and seek aid elsewhere—from Berlin, Brussels, or Beijing.

It’s a calculated ploy, and it's working—unless we stop it.

The notorious war criminal Putin and his psyche were shaped in the KGB apparatus.

What the U.S. Must Do

The U.S. must accept that Russia will never be a strategic ally in the U.S.-China competition. Every move President Trump makes toward engaging Russia, no matter how well-intentioned, only confirms their existing strategies and drives Moscow and Beijing closer together.

For decades, from Nixon to Obama, the U.S. policy has sought to pry China and Russia apart, hoping one might side with it. That strategy is a dead end. One venomous snake cannot be your ally against another.

Instead, America must strengthen its real allies—not by coddling them, as it did for decades with Germany for example, but by elevating their capacity. Just like a franchise player on a professional basketball team, the U.S. must demand from its teammates that they work on their game, develop their skills and behave responsibly and professionally.

The U.S. must accept that to win this global contest, it must first defeat the weaker of the adversaries—Russia—so that our eventual confrontation with China does not become fatal.

President Trump’s instincts are right. He wants peace and strength for America. But to get there, he must stop giving Putin the benefit of the doubt. The Kremlin cannot be reasoned with—it must be defeated.

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