Ukraine and Russia conducted a swap of more than 500 prisoners of war on Saturday. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Telegram 277 Ukrainian service personnel had returned home from Russian captivity. Russia’s defence ministry said 246 servicemen had been handed over by Kyiv. It said a further 31 injured prisoners of war had been handed over to Ukraine and 15 of its own wounded servicemen had also been returned by Kyiv. Zelenskyy thanked the United Arab Emirates for its mediation, saying a total of 4,552 Ukrainians – service personnel and civilians – had been returned since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Fighting has continued in Russia’s border regions despite Vladimir Putin’s declaration of an Easter ceasefire, Zelenskyy has said. “Kursk and Belgorod regions – Putin’s Easter statements did not spread to this territory,” Ukraine’s president said on X, referring to parts of Russia where Ukraine troops are present. “Fighting continues, Russian strikes continue.”
Moscow’s troops have driven out Ukrainian forces from nearly all of the Kursk region, Russia’s chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, has said. “The bulk of the area where the invasion took place has now been cleared,” Gerasimov told Putin in a televised meeting. “It’s 1,260 sq km, 99.5%.” The RIA state news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Saturday that Russian troops recaptured the village of Oleshnya in Kursk.
Zelenskyy has said that, according to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, Kyiv’s forces “continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions”. In an X post on Saturday, he also said Ukrainian troops “have advanced and expanded our zone of control” in the Belgorod region.
Putin announced the Easter ceasefire in the televised meeting with Gerasimov, saying Russian forces would stop combat operations from 6pm Moscow time on Saturday until midnight on Sunday. Russia’s president said he was ordering a temporary halt to the fighting out of “humanitarian considerations”.
Zelenskyy posted on X soon after Putin’s announcement that Russian artillery fire was continuing on Saturday. “Russian artillery can still be heard in certain directions of the front, regardless of the Russian leader’s promise of silence. Russian drones are in use. In some areas, the situation has become quieter,” Zelenskyy said.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched eight missiles and 87 drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Saturday, causing damage in five regions across the country. Air defence units shot down 33 Russian drones, and another 36 drones were redirected by electronic warfare, the air force said. It gave no details on missiles. Damage was recorded in five regions in the south, north-east and east, it said.
Ukraine’s president put the onus on Russia to extend any ceasefire beyond the weekend. “Our actions are and will be symmetrical,” Zelenskyy said on X. “The proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day silence remains on the table – the answer to it must come from Moscow. Ukraine, together with our partners, is ready to move toward peace as constructively as possible, but same readiness is required from Russia.”
Russian troops are “solidifying their presence” in the village of Kalynove in the Donetsk region, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing the DeepState military blog, which is considered close to Ukraine’s army. The publication reports, sourcing DeepState, that Russian forces are deploying infantry, and establishing logistical routes and communication lines in Kalynove.
Australia will use “whatever avenues” it can to help Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins, who faces a 15-year jail term in Russia for fighting with Ukrainian troops. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Saturday that the government would “continue to make representations to the reprehensible regime of Vladimir Putin” to release Jenkins, 33, a former teacher who fought with Ukraine’s armed forces against Russia’s invasion.
