Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday, citing humanitarian reasons, as Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds of captured soldiers in the since Moscow's started over three years ago.
According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.
鈥淲e assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,鈥� Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin鈥檚 Press Service.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the ceasefire 鈥渁nother attempt by Putin to play with human lives.鈥� He wrote on X that 鈥渁ir raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine,鈥� and 鈥淪hahed drones in our skies reveal Putin鈥檚 true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.鈥�
Largest POW exchange so far
The two sides meanwhile exchanged hundreds of POWs on Saturday. Russia鈥檚 Ministry of Defense said that 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that 鈥渁s a gesture of goodwill鈥� 31 wounded Ukrainian POWs were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.
Zelenskyy said that 277 Ukrainian 鈥渨arriors" have returned home from Russian captivity.
Putin鈥檚 ceasefire announcement came after U.S. President on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are 鈥渃oming to a head鈥� and insisted that neither side is 鈥減laying鈥� him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.
Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. may 鈥渕ove on鈥� from trying to secure a if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to .
In January 2023, Putin had ordered his forces in Ukraine to observe a unilateral, for Orthodox Christmas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stopped short of stating his forces would reject Putin鈥檚 request, but dismissed the Russian move as playing for time to regroup its invasion forces and prepare additional attacks.
Russia says its forces are close to recapturing Kursk
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said Saturday its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from the village of Oleshnya, one of their last remaining footholds in Russia鈥檚 Kursk region where the Ukrainians staged a last year.
Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces 鈥渃ontinued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions.鈥�
The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify the claim by Russia.
According to Russian state news agency Tass, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya.
鈥淭he Russian military has yet to push the Ukrainian armed forces out of Gornal ... in order to completely liberate the Kursk region. Fierce fighting is underway in the settlement,鈥� the agency reported, citing Russia security agencies.
Russian and North Korean soldiers have nearly deprived Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking most of the region, where Ukrainian troops staged a last year.
In other developments, the Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday. It said 33 of them were intercepted and another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, Ukraine鈥檚 State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported.
Russia鈥檚 Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.
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