Russia’s Putin declares temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary “Easter truce” in the three-year conflict in Ukraine that will last until midnight Sunday.

“On humanitarian grounds, today from 6 p.m. to midnight from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said in a televised statement released by the Kremlin. The statement has been translated. “For this period, I order to stop all fighting. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to reflect possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions.”

Putin first announced the ceasefire in a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Velary Gerasimov, the Kremlin Press Service said. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a translated statement that the ceasefire is imposed “for humanitarian purposes and will be observed by the Russian Unified Group of Troops (forces) provided that it is mutually respected by the Kiev regime.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the announcement as “Putin’s next attempt to play with people’s lives,” saying an “air alert is now spreading across the territory of Ukraine” because of Russian drone strikes recorded in the sky at 5:15 local time. 

“Ukrainian air defense and aviation have already started working to protect. ‘Shaheeds’ in our sky are Putin’s true attitude to Easter and to people’s lives,” Zelenskyy said. 

“Shaheeds” may be a reference to Shahed drones, which have been extensively used by Russia during the war. 

The Ukrainian leader did not confirm if he would observe the proposed truce. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Ukraine was waiting for “actions, not words” from Putin. 

“Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire,” Sybiga wrote on social media, adding: “We know his words cannot be trusted and we will look at actions, not words.”

Previous attempts at holding ceasefires for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 were not implemented after both sides failed to agree on them. Ukraine last month agreed to President Trump’s proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, only for Putin to reject it.

Russia and Ukraine conduct prisoner exchange 

Also Saturday, Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner swap that was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, Russian state news agency TASS reported. 

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that as a “gesture of goodwill,” 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care. 

Zelenskyy said 277 Ukrainian “warriors have returned home from Russian captivity.” He thanked the United Arab Emirates for mediating the exchange. 

It was the largest exchange since Russia invaded Ukraine over three years ago.

Announcement follows frustration from Trump administration 

The announcement came the day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump’s administration was ready to “move on” from peace talks between Russia and Ukraine if progress was not made in the coming days. Rubio made the comments in Paris, after landmark talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials.  

“We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio told reporters while departing Paris. “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on.”

“It’s not our war,” Rubio added. “We have other priorities to focus on.” He said the U.S. administration wants to decide “in a matter of days.” Another meeting is expected next week in London.

Later Friday, Mr. Trump echoed Rubio’s frustrations with the pace of the talks. When asked about Rubio’s comments on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “fairly complex” negotiations were ongoing between the U.S. and Russia, though he said no direct talks between Mr. Trump and Putin were scheduled for the coming days. 

Fighting before ceasefire 

Earlier Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces pushed Ukrainian forces from one of their last remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk region. Russian forces took control of the village of Oleshnya, on the border with Ukraine, the ministry said. Gerasimov said Russian troops had retaken 99% of the territory seized by Ukraine. 

“In the areas of the Kursk region where Ukraine armed force mounted an incursion, the main part of the territory… is now liberated. That’s 1,260 square kilometres, 99.5 percent,” Gerasimov told Putin.

The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify the claim. In the same statement where he reacted to the ceasefire, Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces “continued their activity” and are “maintaining their positions” in the Kursk region. He also said that military forces “advanced and increased our zone of control” in Belgorod, a Russian city about 24 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border. 

According to TASS, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 7 miles south of Oleshnya.

“The 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,” the agency reported, citing Russian security agencies.

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’s State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.