According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will continue from 6pm on Saturday (1500 GMT) until midnight after Easter Sunday (2100 GMT).
“Today, led by humanitarian considerations from 18:00 to 00:00, from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter ceasefire. I order all military operations during this period to be suspended.”
“We assume that the Ukrainian side follows our example, and at the same time our troops must be ready to fight off any possible truce or provocation from the enemy.
Ukrainian President Voldimir Zelenki called the ceasefire “another attempt by Putin to play with human life.” He writes to X that “Air raid alerts are spreading throughout Ukraine,” and that “our sky Shahed drones reveal Putin’s true attitude towards Easter and human life.”
Meanwhile, both sides traded hundreds of prisoners on Saturday. The Russian Ministry of Defense said 246 Russian service members had been returned from the territory controlled by Kiev and 31 injured Ukrainian prisoners “as a gesture of goodwill” had been transferred in exchange for 15 injured Russian soldiers who needed emergency medical care.
Both sides thanked the United Arab Emirates for mediation.
In further posts, Zelensky welcomed the POW exchange and said 277 Ukrainian soldiers had returned.
In response to the announcement of the ceasefire, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andri Sibikh said in March that Kiev “unconditionally agreed to the US proposal for a 30-day, interim ceasefire.”
Putin’s ceasefire announcement came after President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia “come in his head” and claimed that neither side “plays” him with a push to end the three-year war.
