Ukraine wary of Putin’s Easter truce and says it will reciprocate only a genuine ceasefire

CHERNIHIV REGION Ukraine AP Ukraine stated it would reciprocate any genuine ceasefire by Moscow but voiced skepticism after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared 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 over three years ago Putin revealed a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday citing humanitarian reasons According to the Kremlin the ceasefire will last from p m Moscow time GMT on Saturday to midnight 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 declared if Russia is genuinely ready to observe a full and unconditional ceasefire Ukraine will mirror that approach and strike only in defense He revealed 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 Zelenskyy noted on Telegram That will reveal Russia s true intentions as hours are enough for headlines but not for genuine confidence-building measures Zelenskyy added that according to military reports Russian assaults and artillery fire continued along parts of the -kilometer -mile long front line In response to the ceasefire announcement Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced that Kyiv had in March agreed unconditionally to the U S proposal of a full interim ceasefire for days which Russia rejected Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire hours instead of days 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 U S President Donald Trump on Friday declared 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 Largest POW exchange so far The two sides meanwhile exchanged hundreds of POWs on Saturday Russia s Ministry of Defense announced that Russian arrangement members were returned from Ukraine and wounded Ukrainian POWs were transferred in exchange for wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent biological care Zelenskyy disclosed that Ukrainian warriors have returned home from Russian captivity Both sides thanked the United Arab Emirates for their mediation Largest part of the Ukrainians freed in the latest prisoner exchange are young people born after Ukraine s Coordination Headquarters for the Recovery of Prisoners of War noted Friday Outside a hospital in Ukraine s Northern Chernihiv region where in the past few days freed POWs were brought after the exchange at the confines dozens of relatives stood waiting Among them was -year-old Nataliia Lohvynchuk who rushed toward the bus the moment it arrived She hadn t seen her son in three years since he was captured during the battle for Mariupol in the spring of Her son -year-old Ihor Lohvynchuk lost about kilograms pounds in captivity It still doesn t feel real he commented 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 rd since the start of Russia s full-scale invasion Since the outbreak of the war a total of Ukrainians both military and civilians have been returned from captivity Russia says its forces have retaken nearly all of Kursk Russia s Defense Ministry explained Saturday its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from the village of Oleshnya one of their last remaining footholds in Russia s Kursk region where the Ukrainians staged a surprise incursion last year Gerasimov announced Saturday in a analysis 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 square kilometers Gerasimov explained Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions 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 without delay from Russia According to the Russian state news agency Tass Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal several miles kilometers south of Oleshnya In other developments the Ukrainian air force stated that Russia fired exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday It noted of them were intercepted and another 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 Exigency Organization announced Saturday Fires were contained and no casualties were informed Russia s Ministry of Defense meanwhile revealed its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday Follow AP s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine