Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced Saturday, though it was not immediately clear whether Ukraine had been informed of the decision ahead of time.
“Out of humanitarian considerations, Russia is declaring an Easter ceasefire from 6:00 p.m. [Moscow time] today until midnight Sunday into Monday. I am ordering all combat operations to be halted during this period,” Putin said in a televised meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
“At the same time, our forces must remain ready to respond to any ceasefire violations or provocations by the enemy, as well as to any aggressive actions,” the Kremlin leader added.
About an hour later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to dismiss Moscow’s Easter truce, saying that Russian armed forces were launching air attacks on his country right as the announced pause in hostilities was supposed to begin.
“As for yet another of Putin’s attempts to toy with people’s lives, an air raid alert is currently spreading across Ukraine. At 5:15 p.m., Russian attack drones were detected in our skies,” Zelensky wrote in a message posted on Telegram.
“The presence of Shahed drones in our airspace is a true reflection of Putin’s attitude toward Easter and toward human life,” he added.
Shortly after the Kremlin announced the Easter ceasefire, Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed it received Putin’s order and noted that the truce would be “observed by the Russian Joint Group of Forces, provided it is reciprocated by the Kyiv regime.”
The Defense Ministry also said it exchanged 246 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of captured Russian soldiers, adding that the swap was mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Zelensky later confirmed the exchange.
During Saturday’s televised meeting in the Kremlin, Gerasimov told Putin that all six Russian military groupings are currently advancing along 11 fronts in eastern and southern Ukraine.
He also claimed that 99.5% of the Kursk region has been “liberated,” adding that Russian forces continued counteroffensive operations to clear the border region of Ukrainian forces.
Earlier in the day, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops had captured the second-to-last village in the Kursk region still held by Ukrainian forces, coming just weeks after Moscow staged a surprise attack in the key border town of Sudzha.
While not addressing the Russian military’s claim directly, Zelensky said his top commander told him that Ukrainian forces remain in control of some parts of the border region.
“Our forces continued active operations in the Kursk region and are holding their positions. In the Belgorod region, our troops have advanced and expanded our zone of control,” he said on Telegram.
#Vladimir #Putin #Orders #Easter #Ceasefire #Ukraine
Leave a Reply