Russia’s ministry of defence said that 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv and that, “as a gesture of goodwill”, 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr said that 277 Ukrainian “warriors have returned home from Russian captivity.”
The news came as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
A Russian BM-21 “Grad” self-propelled 122mm multiple rocket launcher fires towards Ukrainian positions in Ukraine (Russian defence ministry press service via AP)
According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6pm on Saturday to midnight on Easter Sunday, both Moscow time.
“Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18.00 to 00.00 from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce.
“I order that all military actions be stopped for this period,” Mr Putin said at a meeting with chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov, the Kremlin’s press service quoted him as saying.
“We 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,” Putin said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the ceasefire “another attempt by Putin to play with human lives.”
He wrote on X that “air raid alerts are spreading across Ukra...
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