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Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, citing humanitarian reasons, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
The announcement came on the same day that the Russian Ministry of Defence said that Ukrainian forces had pushed Ukrainian forces from one of the last remaining footholds in the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukrainian forces had undergone a surprising invasion last year.
According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will continue from 6pm on Saturday (1500 GMT) until midnight after Easter Sunday (2100 GMT).
“Today, led by humanitarian considerations from 18:00 to 00:00, from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce. I order all military operations during this period to be suspended.”
“We assume that the Ukrainian side follows our example, and at the same time our troops must be ready to fight off any possible truce or provocation from the enemy.
Putin’s announcement claimed that neither sides were “playing” him with his push to end the Three Years’ War after US President Donald Trump said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia were “in his head.”
Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that if there is no progress in the coming days after months of efforts have not ended the battle, the US could “go on” from trying to secure a peace deal for the Russian-Ukraine.
In January 2023, Putin ordered the military in Ukraine to observe a one-sided 36-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas. Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelenki had stopped his forces from stating that he would reject Putin’s request, but dismissed the Russian move as playing for time to reorganize the invasion forces and prepare additional attacks.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday it controlled the village of Oleshnya in the Kursk region, on the border with Ukraine. The Associated Press was unable to verify the claim immediately and there was no immediate response from Ukrainian officials.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian troops out of Gornar village, about seven miles (11 kilometers) south of Oresia.
“The Russian army will not yet be able to drive Ukrainian troops out of Gornall to fully liberate the Kursk region. A fierce battle is underway in the reconciliation,” the agency reported, citing Russian security agencies.
Russian and North Korean soldiers had little robbed Kiev from Kiev by seizing most of the area where Ukrainian forces carried out a surprising invasion last year.
In other developments, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia had fired 87 explosive drones and decoys in the wave of its latest attacks up to Saturday. Of these, 33 were intercepted, another 36 was lost and probably jammed electronically.
Ukrainian provincial emergency services said on Saturday that Russia destroyed farms in the Odesa region and sparked a fire in the Smie region overnight. The fire was contained and no victims were reported.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said the air defense system fired down two Ukrainian drones overnight on Saturday.
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Follow the AP’s report on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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