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Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an \u201cEastern truce\u201d with Ukraine, directing the Kremlin\u2019s military to temporarily pause fighting until Sunday night.<\/p>\n
Putin announced the brief ceasefire on Saturday during a meeting with the chief of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.<\/p>\n
The Russian president said, \u201cguided 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Putin said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Putin\u2019s remarks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian president of playing with \u201chuman lives\u201d and added that the Kremlin\u2019s drones were still flying in Kyiv\u2019s airspace.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this moment, air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine. At 17:15, Russian attack drones were detected in our skies. Ukrainian air defense and aviation have already begun working to protect us,\u201d Zelensky wrote<\/a> in a Saturday post on social media platform X. \u201cShahed drones in our skies reveal Putin\u2019s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.\u201d<\/p>\n The air alert in Ukraine\u2019s capital Kyiv stopped at 6 p.m. local time, Agence France-Presse reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Saturday, the two sides also swapped at least 240 prisoners of war, according to Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry and Zelensky.<\/p>\n \u201cOur people are home\u2014one of the best pieces of news that can be. Another 277 warriors have returned home from Russian captivity,\u201d Zelensky said<\/a> in another X post on Saturday. \u201cThe warriors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, and the border guards. They defended Mariupol and other directions in the Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions.\u201d<\/p>\n Since Russia\u2019s invasion started in February 2022, Ukraine has been able to retrieve\u00a0 4,552 individuals \u2014 civilians and fighters \u2014 from Russia\u2019s imprisonment, according to Zelensky.<\/p>\n Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n