CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 Ukraine said it would reciprocate any genuine ceasefire by Moscow, but voiced skepticism after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter truce in Ukraine starting Saturday.
The announcement from Kyiv came as Russia and Ukraine conducted their largest prisoner exchange since Moscow鈥檚 started over three years ago. Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday, citing humanitarian reasons. According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.
Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said if Russia is genuinely ready to observe a full and unconditional ceasefire, Ukraine will mirror that approach and strike only in defense.
He said such a gesture, particularly over the Easter weekend, could reveal Moscow鈥檚 true intentions.
鈥淚f a full ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond Easter Day on April 20,鈥 Zelenskyy said on Telegram. 鈥淭hat will reveal Russia鈥檚 true intentions, as 30 hours are enough for headlines, but not for genuine confidence-building measures.鈥
Zelenskyy added that, according to military reports, Russian assaults and artillery fire continued along parts of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) long front line.
In response to the ceasefire announcement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Kyiv had in March 鈥渁greed unconditionally to the U.S. proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days,鈥 which Russia rejected.
鈥淧utin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,鈥 Sybiha continued, writing on X. 鈥淯nfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions.鈥
Putin's ceasefire announcement came after U.S. President on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are 鈥渃oming to a head鈥 and insisted that neither side is 鈥減laying鈥 him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.
Largest POW exchange so far
The two sides meanwhile exchanged hundreds of POWs on Saturday. Russia鈥檚 Ministry of Defense said that 246 Russian service members were returned from Ukraine, and 31 wounded Ukrainian POWs were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.
Zelenskyy said that 277 Ukrainian 鈥渨arriors" have returned home from Russian captivity.
Both sides thanked the United Arab Emirates for their mediation.
Most of the Ukrainians freed in the latest prisoner exchange are young people born after 2000, Ukraine鈥檚 Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Friday.
Outside a hospital in Ukraine鈥檚 Northern Chernihiv region, where recently freed POWs were brought after the exchange at the border, dozens of relatives stood waiting.
Among them was 48-year-old Nataliia Lohvynchuk, who rushed toward the bus the moment it arrived. She hadn鈥檛 seen her son in three years, since he was captured during the battle for Mariupol in the spring of 2022.
Her son, 23-year-old Ihor Lohvynchuk, lost about 40 kilograms (88 pounds) in captivity. 鈥淚t still doesn鈥檛 feel real,鈥 he said softly. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not really here yet. We all made it back, but we鈥檙e still not here.
His mother, overcome with emotion and embracing her son, issued a plea: 鈥淲e call on the entire world, on every country 鈥 help us bring all our boys home.鈥
Thousands of POWs remain in captivity. The exchange is the fourth this year and the 63rd since the start of Russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion.
Since the outbreak of the war, a total of 4,552 Ukrainians, both military and civilians, have been returned from captivity.
Russia says its forces have retaken nearly all of Kursk
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said Saturday its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from the village of Oleshnya, one of their last remaining footholds in Russia鈥檚 Kursk region, where the Ukrainians staged a last year.
Gerasimov said Saturday in a report to Putin, quoted by Russian state media, that Russia had retaken nearly all of the territory from Ukrainian forces.
鈥淭he main part of the region鈥檚 territory, where the invasion took place, has now been liberated. This is 1,260 square kilometers, 99.5%,鈥 Gerasimov said.
Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces 鈥渃ontinued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions.鈥 Ukraine also claimed that it holds a presence beyond the Kursk region in Russian territory with an aim of preventing the offensive on the Sumy region and to fight on enemy's soil.
The Associated Press was unable to verify the claim immediately from Russia.
According to the Russian state news agency Tass, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya.
In other developments, the Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday. It said 33 of them were intercepted and 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鈥檚 State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported.
Russia鈥檚 Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.
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