Ukraine, wary of Putin’s Easter truce, says it will reciprocate only in genuine ceasefire

CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine — Ukraine said it would reciprocate in 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’s full-scale invasion started more than 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 Saturday to midnight 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 have raged around the clock.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 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’s true intentions.

“If a full ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond Easter Day on April 20,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “That will reveal Russia’s true intentions, as 30 hours are enough for headlines, but not for genuine confidence-building measures.”

Zelensky added that, according to military reports, Russian assaults and artillery fire continued along parts of the 600-mile front line.

In response to the ceasefire announcement, 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,” Sybiha continued, writing on X. “Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions.”

The two sides, meanwhile, exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Saturday. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that “as a gesture of goodwill” 31 wounded Ukrainian POWs were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.

Zelensky said that 277 Ukrainian “warriors” 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’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Friday.

Outside a hospital in Ukraine’s 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’t seen her 23-year-old son, Ihor Lohvynchuk, since before he was captured during the battle for Mariupol in the spring of 2022.

Ihor lost about 90 pounds in captivity, she said. “It still doesn’t feel real,” he said softly. “We’re not really here yet. We all made it back, but we’re still not here.”

His mother, overcome with emotion and embracing her son, issued a plea: “We call on the entire world, on every country — help us bring all our boys home.”

Thousands of POWs remain in captivity. The exchange is the fourth this year and the 63rd since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Since the outbreak of the war, a total of 4,552 Ukrainians, both military and civilians, have been returned from captivity.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces had taken control of the village of Oleshnya, one of their last remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk region where the Ukrainians staged a surprise incursion last year.

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery 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.

“The main part of the region’s territory, where the invasion took place, has now been liberated. This is 1,260 square kilometers, 99.5%,” Gerasimov said, indicating an area about 486 square miles.

Zelensky wrote on X that Ukrainian forces “continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions.”

The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify the claim, and there 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 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.

Russian and allied North Korean soldiers have nearly deprived Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking most of the region, where Ukrainian troops staged a surprise incursion last year.

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 36 were lost, probably 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’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.

Arhirova writes for the Associated Press.