Zelenskyy tells Ukraine on Easter: 'Evil may have its hour but God will have his day'

Kyiv: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians on Easter Sunday not to give up hope that peace will return to their country and to persevere to overcome the difficult path of war on which they have been travelling for 1,152 days.

Wearing a grey traditional Ukrainian vyshyvanka embroidered shirt and standing in front of Kyiv's main church, Saint Sophia Cathedral, Zelenskyy said in a social media video that Ukraine never loses faith.

"Because this faith is in each other," said Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, in a message filled with lyricism and emotion. "In those who stand next to you. In Ukrainian men, in Ukrainian women. Faith that evil may have its hour but God will have his day."

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a surprise one-day ceasefire in Ukraine on Saturday for Easter - which falls on the same day this year for Orthodox and Western churches. But Zelenskyy said earlier on Sunday that the Russian army was making a pretence of a pause in hostilities, continuing overnight attempts to inflict front-line losses on Ukraine.

"We know what we are defending. We know what we are fighting for. For whom and for whose sake," Zelenskyy said.

"The day of life will come. The day of peace. The day of Ukraine. A day that lasts a century. And we will be able to gather together again. At one table. On a peaceful Easter."