Russia and Ukraine mentioned Saturday they every swapped lots of 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 Protection mentioned that 246 Russian service members had been returned from territory managed by Kyiv, and that “as a gesture of goodwill” 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of struggle had 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 house from Russian captivity.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows beneath.
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 certainly one of their final remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk area the place the Ukrainians staged a shock incursion final yr.
In line with 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 aspect will comply with our instance. On the identical time, our troops should 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 Basic Workers Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin’s Press Service.
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 aspect is “taking part in” him in his push to finish the grinding three-year struggle.
Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. might “transfer on” from attempting to safe a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no such thing as a progress within the coming days, after months of efforts have didn’t carry an finish to the combating.
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’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 instantly confirm the declare and there was no quick response from Ukrainian officers.
In line with 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 navy has but to push the Ukrainian armed forces out of Gornal … in an effort 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 practically disadvantaged Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking a lot of the area, the place Ukrainian troops staged a shock incursion final yr.
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 had been intercepted and one other 36 had 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 had been contained, and no casualties had 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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