Russia and Ukraine mentioned Saturday they every swapped a whole lot of prisoners within the largest change for the reason that Russian full-scale invasion began over three years in the past.
Russia’s ministry of defence mentioned that 246 Russian service members have been returned from territory managed by Kyiv, and that “as a gesture of goodwill” 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of warfare have been transferred in change for 15 wounded Russian troopers in want of pressing medical care.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr mentioned that 277 Ukrainian “warriors have returned dwelling from Russian captivity.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a short lived Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, citing humanitarian causes, the Kremlin mentioned Saturday.
The announcement got here on the identical day as Russia’s defence ministry mentioned its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from one in every of their final remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk area the place the Ukrainians staged a shock incursion final 12 months.
In accordance with the Kremlin, the ceasefire will final from 6 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday to midnight following Easter Sunday.
“We assume that the Ukrainian facet will comply with our instance. On the similar time, our troops have to be able to repel doable violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” Putin mentioned at a gathering with Chief of the Normal Employees Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin’s Press Service.
Get day by day Nationwide information
Get the day’s prime information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to as the ceasefire “one other try by Putin to play with human lives.” He wrote on X that “air raid alerts are spreading throughout Ukraine,” and “Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true angle towards Easter and towards human life.”
Putin’s announcement got here after U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday mentioned negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither facet is “taking part in” him in his push to finish the grinding three-year warfare.
Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. might “transfer on” from making an attempt to safe a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there isn’t any progress within the coming days, after months of efforts have did not carry an finish to the preventing.
In January 2023, Putin had ordered his forces in Ukraine to look at a unilateral, 36-hour cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stopped wanting stating his forces would reject Putin’s request, however dismissed the Russian transfer as taking part in for time to regroup its invasion forces and put together extra assaults.
Russia says its forces are near recapturing Kursk
Russia’s Defence Ministry mentioned Saturday its forces took management of the village of Oleshnya, within the Kursk area on the border with Ukraine. The Related Press was unable to right away confirm the declare and there was no instant response from Ukrainian officers.
In accordance with Russian state information company Tass, Russia continues to be preventing to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 11 kilometres south of Oleshnya.
“The Russian army has but to push the Ukrainian armed forces out of Gornal … with the intention to fully liberate the Kursk area. Fierce preventing is underway within the settlement,” the company reported, citing Russia safety businesses.
Russian and North Korean troopers have practically disadvantaged Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking a lot of the area, the place Ukrainian troops staged a shock incursion final 12 months.
In different developments, the Ukrainian air power reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys within the newest wave of assaults in a single day into Saturday. It mentioned 33 of them have been intercepted and one other 36 have been misplaced, possible having been electronically jammed.
Russian assaults broken farms within the Odesa area and sparked fires within the Sumy area in a single day, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service mentioned Saturday. Fires have been contained, and no casualties have been reported.
Russia’s ministry of defence, in the meantime, mentioned its air defence techniques shot down two Ukrainian drones in a single day into Saturday.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Source link