Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary “Easter truce” in the three -year conflict in Ukraine that will last until midnight on Sunday.
“On the humanitarian field, today from 6 p.m. to midnight from Sunday to Monday, the Russian part announces a truce of Easter,” said Putin in a television statement published by the Kremlin. The declaration was translated. “For this period, I stop stopping all the fights. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example.
Putin announced the ceasefire for the first time at a meeting with the chief of staff general Veary Gerasimov, said the Kremlin press service.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia declared in a translated declaration that the ceasefire was imposed “for humanitarian purposes and will be observed by the Russian unified troop group (forces) provided that it is mutually respected by the kyiv regime”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized the announcement as “Putin’s next attempt to play with people’s lives”, saying that a “alert alert is now spreading in Ukraine’s territory” due to Russian drone strikes recorded in the sky at 5:15 a.m.
Vyacheslav prokofyev / AP
“Ukrainian air defense and aviation have already started working to protect.” Shaheeds “in our sky is Putin’s true attitude towards Easter and people’s lives,” said Zelenskyy.
“Shaheeds” can be a reference to Shahed drones, which were widely used by Russia during the war.
The Ukrainian chief has not confirmed if he would observe the proposed truce.
The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sybiga, said that Ukraine expected “actions, not words” from Putin.
“Putin has now made statements on her alleged preparation for a ceasefire,” Sybiga wrote on social networks, adding: “We know that her words cannot trust and we will examine the actions, not words.”
Previous attempts to keep the ceasefire for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 were not implemented after the two parties did not agree on them. Ukraine last month accepted President Trump’s proposal for a complete and unconditional ceasefire of 30 days, only for Putin to reject it.
Russia and Ukraine lead to prison exchanges
Also on Saturday, Russia and Ukraine carried out an exchange of prisoners mediated by the United Arab Emirates, reported the Russian news agency TASS.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that 246 members of the Russian service had been returned from a territory controlled by kyiv, and 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 277 “Ukrainian warriors returned home from Russian captivity”. He thanked the United Arab Emirates for mediating the exchange.
It was the greatest exchange since Russia invaded Ukraine over three years ago.
The announcement follows the frustration of the Trump administration
The announcement came the next day US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump’s administration was ready to “spend” peace talks between Russia and Ukraine if progress has not been made in the coming days. Rubio made the comments in Paris after Historical conferences Among the United States, Ukrainian and European officials.
“We now reach a point where we have to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio told journalists by leaving Paris. “Because if this is not the case, then I think we are just going to continue.”
“It’s not our war,” added Rubio. “We have other priorities to focus on.” He said that the American administration wanted to decide “in a few days”. Another meeting is expected next week in London.
Ludovic Marin / Pool / AFP / Getty 
Later Friday, Trump echoes Rubio’s frustrations in the face of the pace of talks. On Friday, during Rubio’s comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that “fairly complex” negotiations were underway between the United States and Russia, although he said that no direct interview between Mr. Trump and Putin were planned for the next few days.
Fight before the ceasefire
Earlier on Saturday, the Ministry of Defense of Russia said that its forces had pushed the Ukrainian forces of one of their last advantage in the Kursk region in Russia. The Russian forces have taken control of the village of Olashnya on the border with Ukraine, the ministry said. Gerasimov said Russian troops had taken over 99% of the territory seized by Ukraine.
“In the regions of the Kursk region where Ukraine Armed Force has mounted an incursion, the main part of the territory … is now released. It is 1,260 square kilometers, 99.5%,” Gerasimov told Putin.
The Associated Press could not immediately verify the complaint. In the same statement where he reacted to the ceasefire, Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian forces “continued their activity” and “maintain their positions” in the Kursk region. He also declared that military forces “advanced and increased our control zone” in Belgorod, a Russian city about 24 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border.
According to Tass, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces outside the village of Gornal, about 7 miles south of Oleshanya.
“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.
The Russian attacks damaged the farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, the Ukraine State of State Emergency Service announced 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.
