Russia-Ukraine War / Putin declared a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, both countries exchanged prisoners

Russia-Ukraine War: News of an important and humanitarian initiative has emerged amid the long and devastating war between Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ceasefire on the holy occasion of Easter. This pause will be effective from 6 pm on Saturday (Moscow time) to midnight on Sunday. The information about this announcement has been officially shared by the Kremlin, which is being considered a rare peace sign in this complex conflict.

Putin's humanitarian initiative

President Putin announced this ceasefire in an important meeting with Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He said, "Guided by humanitarian considerations, we will observe a temporary ceasefire during Easter. I order that all military actions be stopped from 6 pm on Saturday to 12 pm on Sunday." At the same time, he hoped that the Ukrainian side would also follow the same spirit.

However, Putin also made it clear that if the ceasefire is violated or the Ukrainian army takes any kind of provocative action, then Russian soldiers should be ready to respond to it.

Prisoner exchange along with ceasefire

Along with the announcement of this ceasefire, another big news has come to the fore. Russia and Ukraine have done the biggest prisoner exchange so far during the war. According to the AP News Agency, the Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that hundreds of prisoners have been exchanged. This step is being seen as an important effort towards reducing the horrors of war from a humanitarian point of view.

Ground situation and military activities

On the same day of this announcement, the Russian Defense Ministry said in another statement that its security forces have gained control of the village of Oleshnya near the Kursk region, which is adjacent to the Ukrainian border. This village was one of the last remaining bases of Russia in the war zone, from where Ukrainian forces have been pushed back. However, there has been no official confirmation of this claim from the Ukrainian authorities and the Associated Press has also not independently confirmed it.