Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for the Easter weekend, citing “humanitarian considerations,” as the two countries swapped hundreds of prisoners of war.
The truce was slated to begin on Saturday at 6 p.m. local time and last until midnight after Easter Sunday, the Kremlin said.
“I order that all military actions be stopped for this period,” Putin announced Saturday at a meeting with Russia’s chief of general staff, shared in a video by the Kremlin’s Press Service.
“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example,” he continued. “At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any aggressive actions.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defense later confirmed that 246 Russian soldiers were also returned from Ukraine in exchange for 246 Ukrainian prisoners of war, calling it the “result of negotiations” mediated by the UAE. It marked the largest swap since Russia invaded its neighbor nation more than three years ago.
When pressed on Putin’s proposal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said troops on Saturday were still actively working to battle back attacks by Russian drones. The air strikes, he wrote on X, were indicative of Putin’s “true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.”
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in a wave of overnight attacks that persisted into Saturday afternoon. Of those, 33 of them were intercepted and another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
“This is how Russia began this Good Friday — with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds — maiming our people and cities,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.
The proposed ceasefire came a day after President Trump said negotiations between the warring nations were “coming to a head,” as Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned the U.S. may “move on” from brokering a peace deal if there’s no evidence of progress in the coming days.
“If for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say you’re foolish … And we’re going to just take a pass,” the president said Friday. “But hopefully, we won’t have to do that.”
It’s not clear whether the Easter ceasefire represents an authentic effort to deescalate the conflict, sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The truce also comes more than a month after Kyiv reportedly agreed to a U.S. proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, which Russia eventually rejected.
“Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media Saturday morning. “Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions.”
With News Wire Services
