Egypt Daily News – In the largest prisoner exchange since the start of the war more than three years ago, Moscow and Kyiv exchanged hundreds of detainees, according to an announcement from Moscow. While Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine during Easter celebrations on Saturday, both Russia and Ukraine confirmed that they exchanged hundreds of prisoners on Saturday, April 19, 2025 — marking the largest such exchange since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that 246 Russian service members were returned from areas controlled by Kyiv. As a “gesture of goodwill,” 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war were released in exchange for 15 injured Russian soldiers in urgent need of medical care. According to Reuters, the exchange was brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
The Kremlin announced that the ceasefire, ordered by President Putin for humanitarian reasons, would begin at 6:00 p.m. Moscow time (3:00 p.m. GMT) on Saturday and last until midnight on Sunday (9:00 p.m. GMT). During a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Putin stated: “The Russian side, driven by humanitarian considerations, declares a truce on the occasion of Easter from 6:00 p.m. today until midnight Sunday. I order all military actions to stop during this period.” He added, “We believe the Ukrainian side will follow our lead. At the same time, our forces must be prepared to repel any potential violations of the truce or provocations by the enemy.”
The announcement coincided with a report from the Russian Ministry of Defense claiming that Russian forces had repelled Ukrainian troops from one of their last remaining strongholds in Russia’s Kursk region. The ministry said Russian forces took control of the village of Olishnia near the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the ceasefire as “yet another attempt by Putin to toy with human lives.” He wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Air raid sirens are sounding across many parts of Ukraine… Shahed drones in our skies show Putin’s real attitude toward Easter and human life.”
Putin’s announcement came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump stated that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia had “reached a critical point,” emphasizing that neither side is “manipulating” him in his push to end the war, now in its third year.
