Russia and Ukraine said Saturday they had exchanged hundreds of prisoners, the largest swap since Russia's massive invasion began more than three years ago.
The Russian Defense Ministry noted that 246 Russian servicemen were returned from Kyiv, and in a “goodwill gesture,” 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war were exchanged for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of emergency medical care.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that 277 Ukrainian “soldiers returned home from Russian captivity.”
The news came after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine over Easter, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
The ceasefire will be in effect from 6 p.m. Saturday until midnight Moscow time on Easter Sunday, the Kremlin said.
“For humanitarian reasons, the Russian side is declaring an Easter truce from 18:00 to 00:00 from Sunday to Monday,” Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, as quoted by the Kremlin press service.
“I order that all military actions be stopped for this period,” he added.
“We hope that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be prepared for possible violations of the ceasefire and provocations by the enemy, as well as for any aggressive actions,” Putin noted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the announced ceasefire as “another attempt by Putin to manipulate human lives.”
He wrote in X that “alarms are ringing across Ukraine” and “killer drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and human life.”
Putin's comments came after US President Donald Trump said on Friday that talks between Ukraine and Russia had “reached a critical stage”, stressing that neither side was “playing” with him in his bid to end the grueling three-year war.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
