Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a brief Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, citing humanitarian causes, the Kremlin mentioned Saturday.
The announcement got here on the identical day as Russia’s Protection Ministry mentioned its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from considered one of their final remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk area the place the Ukrainians staged a surprise incursion final yr.
In response to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will final from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.
“We assume that the Ukrainian facet will observe our instance. On the identical time, our troops have to be able to repel attainable violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” Putin mentioned at a gathering with Chief of the Common Employees Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin’s Press Service.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy known 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 perspective 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 conflict.
Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. could “transfer on” from making an attempt to safe a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there isn’t a progress within the coming days, after months of efforts have did not convey an finish to the fighting.
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 further assaults.
Russia says its forces are near recapturing Kursk
Russia’s Protection 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 speedy response from Ukrainian officers.
In response to Russian state information company Tass, Russia continues to be combating to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 7 miles (11 kilometers) 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 combating is underway within the settlement,” the company reported, citing Russia safety companies.
Russian and North Korean troopers have almost disadvantaged Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking a lot of the area, the place Ukrainian troops staged a surprise incursion final yr.
In different developments, the Ukrainian air drive 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 Protection, in the meantime, mentioned its air protection programs shot down two Ukrainian drones in a single day into Saturday.
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Observe AP’s protection of the conflict in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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