Putin cannot be trusted, says Ukraine after Russia announces ‘Easter truce’ – as it happened (2025)

It is approaching 8pm in Kyiv and Moscow. This blog will be closing shortly. You can keep up to date on the Guardian’s Russia-Ukraine coverage here.

Here is a summary of the updates from today’s live blog:

• Vladimir Putin declared a unilateral 30-hour Easter ceasefire in Ukraine on Saturday, after Washington said it could abandon peace talks within days unless Moscow and Kyiv show they are ready to stop the war. According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6pm Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the ceasefire “another attempt by Putin to play with human lives”. He wrote on X that “air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine” and “Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life”.

• Andrii Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said that Kyiv had in March “agreed unconditionally to the US proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days”, which Russia had rejected. “Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,” Sybiha continued, writing on X. “Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions.”

• Ukraine and Russia conducted a swap of more than 500 prisoners of war on Saturday, the latest in a series of exchanges since Russia launched a full-scale invasion more than three years ago. Zelenskyy, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, said 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.

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• Moscow’s troops have driven out Ukrainian forces from nearly all of Russia’s western Kursk region, Russia’s military chief, Valery Gerasimov, 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 square km, 99.5%.”

• Posting on X on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said “our forces continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions”. He added: “In the Belgorod region, our warriors have advanced and expanded our zone of control.”

• 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.

• The US is prepared to recognise Russian control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea as part of a broader peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, Bloomberg News has reported, citing people familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg, the people said a final decision on the matter had not yet been taken, and the White House and state department did not respond to a request for comment.

• The US representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a pro-Ukraine Republican representing Pennsylvania, signed an artillery shell with a message intended for Vladimir Putin during a visit with Ukrainian troops yesterday after a meeting with Zelenskyy. Fitzpatrick was filmed signing the shell with a message that read: “To: Putin, From: PA-1. #PeaceThroughStrength.”

• 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 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.

Last weekend, Alla Shyrshonkova got on the 62 bus on a journey to her cottage near the Ukrainian city of Sumy. It was a warm spring day. “I thought I’d sit with friends, have some tea. Birds were singing. The weather was beautiful. It was so nice,” she recalled.

“The bus was packed. There wasn’t a single free seat. People were standing. Some were going to church for Palm Sunday. There were families with children.”

As she reached the city centre she heard a loud bang. Two minutes later – as the bus made its way down Petropavlivska street – there was a second massive explosion. “The blast was in front of me, so I didn’t see it. I only heard it. I was sitting behind the driver, with my back to him. When I heard the noise, I covered my head with my hands and ducked.”

After that, she said, “rocks, glass and everything went flying”. Shyrshonkova lifted her head. Blood was gushing “like a fountain” from her arm. “I saw cars on fire and smoke. People were lying at my feet. I said to them: ‘Get up, get up.’ They were silent.”

A conductor called the name of the driver – “Kolya” – but there was no reply. Passengers tried to climb out of a window. Eventually, a teenage boy opened a door and she staggered out.

The double strike on Sumy was the bloodiest single moment this year in Russia’s murderous war against Ukraine. The Iskander ballistic missiles carried deadly cluster of munitions which released a wave of shrapnel. Thirty-five people were killed.

Read the full story here:

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Kyiv remains committed to the 30-day ceasefire agreement. In a post on X, he urged countries to remain “vigilant” and ensure that Russian forces also uphold the truce.

Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a cease-fire. 30 hours instead of 30 days. Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions. We know his words cannot be trusted and we will look at actions, not words.

Russia can agree at any time to the proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, which has been on the table since March.

We want to see Russian forces actually cease fire in all directions. We also urge all of our partners and the international community to be vigilant. Only actions, not words, reveal the truth: this war began and continues only because of Russia.

The Guardian’s Luke Harding reports on Putin’s announcement of a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine:

Vladimir Putin has announced an “Easter Truce”, saying that Russian forces will stop combat operations from 6pm Moscow time on Saturday until midnight on Sunday.

In a surprise move, Russia’s president said he was ordering a temporary halt to the fighting out of “humanitarian considerations”. He said he expected Ukraine to follow suit and said this would be a test of whether the “regime” in Kyiv was interested in peace.

Putin’s made his remarks in a meeting with Russia’s commander-in-chief Valery Gerasimov, which was broadcast on state television. Ukrainians reacted sceptically, pointing out the announcement was made at the same time as an air raid alert sounded across the Kyiv region.

Russia has broken numerous ceasefire since its 2014 covert invasion of eastern Ukraine. Unlike Ukraine, it has refused to implement a 30-day pause in fighting proposed more than a month ago by the Trump administration.

Speaking on Saturday, Putin said Kyiv was guilty of violating a deal “100 times” to refrain from attacking Russian energy infrastructure. He commanded Gerasimov to prepare an “immediate response” if this were to happen again.

Read the full story here:

Ukraine and Russia conducted a swap of more than 500 prisoners of war, the latest in a series of exchanges since Russia launched a full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, said 277 Ukrainian service personnel had returned home from Russian captivity. He thanked the UAE for helping with the mediation of the swap and wrote on X:

In total, since the beginning of the full-scale war, 4,552 people—both warriors and civilians—have been successfully brought back home from Russian imprisonment.

We remember all those who remain in captivity. We are searching for everyone who could be there. We must bring them all home.

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.

It is approaching 6pm in Kyiv and Moscow. Here is a summary of the updates so far from today’s live blog:

• Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced an Easter truce in the conflict in Ukraine starting this evening and lasting till midnight on Sunday. “Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said in televised comments, while speaking to Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov. Putin said he assumed Ukraine would follow Russia’s example, but told Gerasimov, to ready Russian troops to repel any violations of the truce by Kyiv.

• President Donald Trump has said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding war. Trump spoke on Friday shortly after secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US may “move on” from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.

• US vice-president JD Vance met on Saturday with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, archbishop Paul Gallagher. As the US pushes to end the war in Ukraine, Parolin reaffirmed Kyiv’s right to its territorial integrity and insisted that any peace deal must not be “imposed” on Ukraine but “is built patiently, day by day, with dialogue and mutual respect”.

• At least six people have been injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, local authorities said on Saturday, according to the Kyiv Independent. Citing the Ukrainian air force, the publication reported that Russia deployed eight missiles of different types, and 87 long-range drones. Of those, 33 were shot down and 36 turned out to be decoy, the air force said. The overnight attack caused damage in five regions across the country, the Ukrainian air force said.

• Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine on Saturday of attacking Russian energy facilities 10 times over the past 24 hours. A 30-day moratorium was brokered by the US in March between Ukraine and Russia against strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure. However, both nations have repeatedly accused the other of violating it.

• On Saturday, a Ukrainian drone strike on a car in the Kursk region killed a woman and injured a man and a child, regional governor Alexander Khinstein said on Telegram.

• Russia on Saturday said it had retaken the penultimate village still under Ukrainian control in its Kursk frontier region, where Kyiv’s forces launched a surprise offensive in August. “During offensive operations, units of the Northern Group of Troops liberated the village of Oleshnya,” the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram. “In the areas of the Kursk region where Ukraine armed force mounted an incursion, the main part of the territory … is now liberated. That’s 1,260 square kilometres, 99.5 percent,” Gerasimov told Putin in a televised meeting. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the reports.

• Posting on X on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “our forces continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions”. He added: “In the Belgorod region, our warriors have advanced and expanded our zone of control.”

• 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.

• The US is prepared to recognise Russian control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea as part of a broader peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, Bloomberg News has reported, citing people familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg, the people said a final decision on the matter had not yet been taken, and the White House and state department did not respond to a request for comment.

• US congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, a pro-Ukraine Republican representing Pennsylvania, signed an artillery shell with a message intended for Vladimir Putin during a visit with Ukrainian troops yesterday after a meeting with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Fitzpatrick was filmed signing an artillery shell with a message that read: “To: Putin, From: PA-1. #PeaceThroughStrength.”

• 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 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.

• Russia and Ukraine will conduct a new prisoner swap on Saturday mediated by the United Arab Emirates, a source close to the negotiations told Reuters. Nearly 500 Russian and Ukrainian prisoners and 46 injured soldiers will be exchanged in the latest swap to be mediated by Abu Dhabi. The exchange will involve 246 prisoners from each side, the source said.

Although Volodymyr Zelenskyy is yet to respond to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a temporary Easter ceasefire, the Ukrainian president has just posted an update on X about the Kursk region.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops were “holding their positions”. He wrote:

I have just received a report from commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Today, our forces continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions. In the Belgorod region, our warriors have advanced and expanded our zone of control.

As for yet another attempt by Putin to play with human lives-at 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. Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.

Here is what Vladimir Putin said about the temporary Easter ceasefire on Saturday, as reported by the Associated Press (AP):

Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 00:00 from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce. I order that all military actions be stopped for this period.

We 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.

Russia’s military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov on Saturday said troops had retaken more than 99% of territory seized by Ukraine in the Kursk region in an incursion launched in August.

“In the areas of the Kursk region where Ukraine armed force mounted an incursion, the main part of the territory … is now liberated. That’s 1,260 square kilometres, 99.5 percent,” Gerasimov told Russian president Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the report.

Putin said he assumed Ukraine would follow Russia’s example, but told the chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, to ready Russian troops to repel any violations of the truce by Kyiv, reports Reuters.

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced an Easter truce in the conflict in Ukraine starting this evening and lasting till midnight on Sunday.

“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said in televised comments, while speaking to Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).