Easter ceasefire fire a ruse
Vladimir Putin cloaks his latest maneuver in the trappings of diplomacy, but even the most casual observer sees it for what it is: a tactical pause in a criminal campaign masquerading as statesmanship. The so-called ceasefire, accepted by Ukraine under the hope—perhaps illusion—that even a brief stillness might bring relief to its bleeding people, serves only one purpose for Russia: the reshuffling of its bloody deck. Troops reposition under the false flag of restraint. Equipment surges forward under the guise of de-escalation. Meanwhile, Russia’s intelligence operatives slip through the cracks like vipers through tall grass, their orders clear—eliminate Zelensky, decapitate leadership, destabilize from within.
Putin, draped in the faded rags of Soviet nostalgia, plays an old game with the same cynical script. He mouths words of peace while sharpening his knives. He speaks of negotiation while ordering targeted assassinations. His offers, like poisoned gifts, carry the weight of every betrayal Russia has inflicted on Ukraine since 2014. Ceasefires under Putin are not bridges to peace but veils for preparation—reloading artillery, redeploying forces, rebuilding propaganda narratives for the next wave of brutality.
The attempt to kill Zelensky strips away any lingering pretense. It is not war he wages. It is cowardice cloaked in strategy, a mafia hit job justified with historical revisionism. Putin fears what Zelensky represents: a man with spine, with moral clarity, with the will to stand firm while missiles fall around him. Zelensky’s defiance exposes the hollowness of Putin’s claim to strength. While the Russian president hides behind granite tables and staged meetings, Zelensky walks the ruins of his own country shoulder to shoulder with his people. One leads; the other lurks.
This ceasefire will go down not as a gesture of goodwill but as one more act in a theater of deceit, orchestrated by a man whose grasp on power rests not on honor or truth but on repression, surveillance, and murder. There is nothing strategic in Putin’s thinking that isn’t soaked in the desperation of a man who cannot win on a battlefield or in the court of world opinion. So he reverts to what he knows—lies, infiltration, and assassination attempts.
History will not spare him. It will record him not as a strongman, not as a tsar reborn, but as a venomous relic of empire, too scared to face a real democracy and too incompetent to build one of his own. Let him squirm behind his border of propaganda and cyber sabotage. Let him pretend he still holds the upper hand. The truth is already outpacing him. And when it catches him, no ceasefire will save him.
