Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that, according to his best commander, Russian artillery had not calmed down despite the proclamation by the Kremlin of an Easter ceasefire.
“From now on, according to the reports of the commander-in-chief, the Russian assault operations continue in several first line sectors, and the Russian artillery fire has not disappeared,” wrote Zelenskyy on the social media platform X.
“Consequently, there is no confidence in the words coming from Moscow.”
He recalled that Russia had rejected a 30-day complete cease-fire last month proposed in the United States and declared that if Moscow agreed “to really engage in a format of complete and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly-reflecting the actions of Russia.”
“If a complete ceasefire is really settling in, Ukraine offers to extend it beyond April 20 Easter day,” wrote Zelenskyy.
US President Donald Trump said the United States could “take a pass” on peace talks with Ukraine and Russia unless progress occurs, but he hopes that it will not happen. Russia has several cease-fire conditions that Ukraine refuses to fill.
Citing humanitarian reasons, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine from Saturday.
According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will start on Saturday at 6 p.m. Moscow time (11 a.m. he) and will end at midnight after Easter Sunday.
“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel any violations of the truce and the provocations of the enemy, all its aggressive actions,” said Putin during a meeting with the chief of the general staff Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin press service.
Hundreds of prisoners of war have exchanged
The two parties, on the other hand, exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Saturday. The Russian Defense Ministry said 246 members of the Russian service had been returned from a territory controlled by kyiv, and that “as a gesture of good will”, 31 injured Ukrainian war prisoners were transferred in exchange for 15 injured Russian soldiers needing urgent medical care.
Zelenskyy said that 277 Ukrainian “warriors” returned home from Russian captivity.
The two parties thanked the United Arab Emirates for his mediation.
The announcement of Putin’s ceasefire intervened after US President Donald Trump, on Friday said that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia “came to the head” and insisted that none of the parties “plays” him in his effort to end the three-year war.
Trump spoke shortly after the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio warned that the United States could “move on” by trying to obtain a peace agreement from Russia-Ukraine if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of effort did not manage to end the fighting.
In January 2023, Putin had ordered her forces in Ukraine to observe a 36-hour unilateral ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas. Zelenskyy had rejected him as playing time to prepare additional attacks.
Russia fights to take over the whole Kursk region
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had pushed Ukrainian troops in the village of Olashhya, one of their latest advantages in the Kursk region in Russia, where Ukrainians organized a surprised foray last year.
Gerasimov declared on Saturday in a report to Putin, quoted by the Russian state media, which Russia had taken up almost the entire territory of the Ukrainian forces.
“The main part of the region of the region, where the invasion has taken place, has now been released. It is 1,260 square kilometers, 99.5%,” said Gerasimov.
Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces “continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and occupy their positions”.
The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify Russia’s complaint. Russian and North Korean soldiers almost deprived Kyiv of a key exchange by taking over the majority of the region.
According to the Russian TASS state news agency, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces in the village of Gornal, about 11 kilometers south of Olashhya.
“The Russian army has not yet pushed the Ukrainian armed forces out of the Gornal … in order to completely free the region of Kursk. Fierce fights are underway in the regulations,” the agency reported, citing Russian security agencies.
In other developments, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia had shot 87 drones and explosive lures in the last wave of attacks overnight. He said 33 of them were intercepted and that 36 others were lost, having probably been stuck electronically.
Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, Ukraine’s emergency service said on Saturday. Fires have been contained and no victim has been reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense systems had shot two Ukrainian drones during the night after Saturday.
