Vladimir Putin has declared an “Easter truce” in Ukraine starting Saturday and lasting till midnight on Sunday.
The Russian president said his military would cease “all military operations” from 6pm Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.
“Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 to 00:00 from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce,” Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the Kremlin’s Press Service quoted him as saying. “I order that all military actions be stopped for this period.”
Putin also said that Russia would “assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said the truce was “another attempt to play with human lives” and highlighted that 45 minutes before the supposed ceasefire was meant to start, Russian kamikaze drones were being launched into Ukrainian air space.
“Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life,” he wrote in a statement on X.
Putin’s declaration came after Donald Trump threatened to walk the United States back from peace talks “very shortly” if a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine is not reached soon.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Kyiv had in March “agreed unconditionally to the U.S. proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days,” which Russia rejected.
“Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,” Mr Sybiha continued, writing on X.
Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions.
Putin’s ceasefire announcement came after US President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.
Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. may “move on” from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.
Previous attempts at holding ceasefires for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 were not implemented after both sides failed to agree on them.
Ukraine last month agreed to Trump’s proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, only for Putin to reject it.
Putin’s administration has carried out lightning raids across Russia for several weeks in an “overtly aggressive’ attempt to enlist more fledgling recruits for the war in Ukraine.
During an evening workout at Spirit Fitness in south-east Moscow, gym-goers were suddenly told to drop to the floor.
According to witnesses, police divide those at the gym into citizens and non-citizens. Russians are taken to enlistment offices, where their military records are checked.
Read more here from Kieran Kelly
The Telegraph’s Associate Defence Editor Dom Nicholls gives his analysis below.
He’s made an announcement about military activity that may or may not happen, hoping to curry favour with Trump and try and make make Ukraine look bad to Trump if they continue fighting.
Ukraine agreed to Trump’s 30-day unconditional ceasefire over a month ago, Russia did not, strangely without consequences.
Putin shouldn’t get any applause now for this stunt.
Russia and Ukraine on Saturday held a large prisoner of war exchange, with each side handing back more than 240 prisoners, the Russian defence ministry said.
“On April 19… 246 Russian soldiers were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return 246 Ukrainian prisoners of war were handed over.
“Also as a good will gesture, 31 wounded prisoners of war were handed over in exchange for 15 wounded Russian prisoners of war needing urgent medical help,” the ministry said in a statement on social media.”
I have just received a report from Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Today, our forces continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions. In the Belgorod region, our warriors have advanced and expanded our zone of control.
As for…
The Russian Ministry of Defence has released a statement confirming that Russia will stop all military operations from 18:00 Moscow time (16:00 BST) today until midnight on 21 April (22:00 BST).
The ministry says all military actions have been ordered to stop, adding that the decision was “guided by humanitarian considerations”.
They say they expect the Ukrainian side to do the same.
“At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” the ministry says in a statement that has been translated.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday.
Anti-air measures managed to intercept 33 of them. Another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported.
Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces from one of their last remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk region, officials said Saturday.
According to Russia’s Defence Ministry, its forces took control of the village of Oleshnya, on the border with Ukraine.
“Units of the ‘North’ military group have liberated the village of Oleshnya in the Kursk region during active offensive operations,” the ministry said in a statement.
There was was no immediate response from Ukrainian officials.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some seven miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya.
“The Russian military has yet to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of Gornal … in order to completely liberate the Kursk region. Fierce fighting is underway in the settlement,” the agency reported, citing Russia security agencies.
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