Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a temporary ceasefire for Easter in Ukraine, as announced by the Kremlin on Saturday.
The ceasefire is set to be in effect from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday until midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.
“Driven by humanitarian concerns, I hereby declare an Easter truce from 18:00 to 00:00 from Sunday to Monday. I command that all military operations cease during this timeframe,” Putin stated during a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, as reported by the Kremlin’s Press Service.
“We expect the Ukrainian side to reciprocate our gesture. However, our forces must remain prepared to counter any potential violations of the truce or provocations from the adversary, as well as any aggressive actions,” Putin added.
This announcement coincided with a statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry, which reported that its forces had expelled Ukrainian troops from one of their last strongholds in the Kursk region. The ministry indicated that Russian forces had taken control of the village of Oleshnya, located near the Ukrainian border.
The Associated Press was unable to independently verify this claim, and there was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.
As reported by the Russian state news agency TASS, Russian forces continue to engage in efforts to drive Ukrainian troops out of the village of Gornal, approximately seven miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya.
“The Russian military has not yet succeeded in removing the Ukrainian armed forces from Gornal… in order to fully liberate the Kursk region. Intense combat is ongoing in the area,” the agency reported, citing Russian security sources.
Russian and North Korean troops have nearly eliminated a significant bargaining advantage for Kyiv by regaining control of most of the region, where Ukrainian forces had previously launched 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 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’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defence systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.