KYIV: A temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine entered into force on Saturday, with Kyiv warning it would respond &quot;immediately&quot; if Russia violated it. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the ceasefire on Thursday to coincide with Orthodox Easter, more than a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky first made the proposal. Both sides have agreed to observe it. The ceasefire is due to last for 32 hours, from 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the Kremlin. &quot;Ukraine will adhere to the ceasefire and respond strictly in kind. The absence of Russian strikes in the air, on land, and at sea will mean no response from our side,&quot; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X. The Ukrainian army said it was ready to &quot;immediately&quot; respond if Russia violated it. Hours before the truce was due to start, Russia launched at least 160 drones at Ukraine, killing four people in the country&#39;s east and south and wounding dozens of others, Ukrainian authorities said. The southern Odesa region was among the hardest hit, with authorities reporting two dead and damage to civilian infrastructure. A wave of Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at an oil depot and damaged apartment buildings in Russia&#39;s southern Krasnodar region, authorities said. Four people died in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine&#39;s eastern Donetsk and Kherson regions, according to Russian-installed officials. Ukrainians have expressed scepticism about whether the truce will hold. The two sides held a ceasefire for Orthodox Easter last year, but both accused the other of hundreds of violations. Despite tensions over the truce, the warring sides exchanged 175 prisoners of war each on Saturday, according to officials. The United Arab Emirates helped mediate the exchange, the Russian defence ministry said. Prisoner of war exchanges are one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring sides. Stalled diplomacyUS-led talks aimed at ending the four-year conflict have stalled in recent weeks because of the war in the Middle East. Even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over the issue of territory. Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines. But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants Ukraine to give up all the territory in the Donetsk region that it currently controls -- a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable. Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russia had discussed the ceasefire with Ukraine or the United States in advance and said it was not linked to negotiations to end the war. The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe&#39;s deadliest conflict since World War II. After four years, fighting on the front has come to a near standstill. Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost. But Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Apart from Ukrainian counter-attacks, analysts attributed the slowdown to Russia being banned from using SpaceX&#39;s Starlink satellites and Moscow&#39;s own efforts to block the Telegram messaging app. But the situation is unfavourable for Ukraine in the Donetsk region, near the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to the ISW. Moscow occupies just over 19 percent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.

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A temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine entered into force with Kyiv warning it would respond "immediately" if Russia violated it

Easter truce between Russia and Ukraine begins

KYIV:&nbsp;A temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine for Orthodox Easter is set to begin on Saturday afternoon, as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war falter. The Kremlin said it had ordered a temporary truce from Saturday at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period. Russia&#39;s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and army chief Valery Gerasimov have been instructed to &ldquo;cease hostilities in all directions during this period,&rdquo; the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russian-envoy-in-us-for-economy-talks-kremlin" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kremlin</a> said. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/qatar-ukraine-sign-deal-on-countering-missiles-drones-qatari-defense-ministry" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukrainian</a> President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv had &ldquo;repeatedly stated&rdquo; it was ready for a ceasefire over Easter, and was willing to reciprocate. The temporary ceasefire came as US-led talks on ending the four-year-old conflict have been derailed by the US-Israel war on Iran. The two sides also held a ceasefire for the Orthodox Easter last year. Authorities in Ukraine&#39;s central region of Poltava, and Sumy, a region in the north east, reported overnight Friday that one person had been killed and around 15 others wounded in two separate attacks, just hours before the ceasefire was set to begin. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 128 drones against the country overnight Thursday. Slowdown in Russian military operations&nbsp;Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement and Washington&#39;s attention is now focused on Iran. The negotiations have become deadlocked, with Moscow demanding territorial and political concessions that Zelensky has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation. The Kremlin&#39;s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russia had discussed the ceasefire with Ukraine or the United States in advance and said it was not linked to negotiations to end the war.&nbsp;Deadliest since WW IIThe war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe&#39;s deadliest conflict since World War II. Over the past few years, fighting on the front has come to a near standstill.&nbsp; Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost. But Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Apart from Ukrainian counter-attacks, analysts attributed the slowdown to Russia being banned from using SpaceX&#39;s Starlink satellites and Moscow&#39;s own efforts to block the Telegram messaging app. The situation is, however, unfavorable for Ukraine in the Donetsk region, towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to the ISW. Moscow occupies just more than 19% of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.

The Kremlin says it has ordered a temporary truce from Saturday at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period.

Articles tagged with "Easter Truce"

Easter truce between Russia and Ukraine begins

Russia and Ukraine set to begin Easter truce