KYIV, Ukraine — Russian drone strikes killed at least two people in the Ukrainian city of Odesa starting Saturday and overnight, local authorities reported, ahead of a proposed ceasefire ahead of the Orthodox Easter holiday.
Subscribe to read this story without ads
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
In the attack on the Black Sea port city, drones struck a residential area, damaging apartments, homes and a kindergarten, and injuring two more people.
Hours before the proposed Easter ceasefire went into effect, Russia targeted Ukraine with 160 drones overnight, of which 133 were shot down or intercepted, according to Ukraine’s air force.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 99 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight across Ukraine and occupied Crimea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, ordering Russian troops to cease fighting from 4pm Saturday until the end of Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday pledged to abide by the ceasefire, saying it was an opportunity to strengthen peace efforts. However, it warned that any violations would result in a swift military response.
“Easter should be a time of silence and security. An Easter ceasefire could also be the beginning of a real move towards peace,” President Zelenskiy said in an online post on Saturday.
But he added: “We all understand who we are dealing with. Ukraine will abide by the ceasefire and will respond strictly in kind.”
Ukraine had earlier proposed a moratorium on attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure during the Russian Orthodox Easter holiday.
Previous ceasefire attempts have had little impact, with both sides accusing each other of violations.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday described Putin’s move as a “humanitarian” gesture, but said the Kremlin remained committed to a comprehensive solution based on long-standing demands. This demand has become an important bottleneck preventing the two countries from reaching an agreement.
prisoner exchange
Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced that 175 soldiers returned home in Saturday’s prisoner exchange.
President Zelenskiy confirmed Saturday’s exchanges and said 175 military personnel and seven civilians had returned.
“Most of them have been in captivity since 2022. And finally they are coming home,” he wrote to X.
At a social networking site in northern Ukraine, Svitlana Pohosyan waited for her son to return. Asked about the ceasefire, she said: “I want to believe, God willing. We believe and hope that everything will be fine, that there will be a ceasefire on such a holy day, and that there will be peace. Peace in Ukraine and peace all over the world.”
“My celebration will come when my son returns,” she added. “I will hold him in my arms. That will be the best celebration for me, and for every mother, every family.”
The regular prisoner exchanges were one of the few positive outcomes of months of fruitless U.S.-brokered negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. Talks, now in their fifth year, have made no progress on key issues that prevent Russia from halting its aggression against its neighbors.
Separately, seven residents of Russia’s Kursk region returned from Ukraine on Saturday after being captured by Ukrainian forces, Russian state media reported. They were met at the border between Belarus and Ukraine by Tatiana Moskalkova, Russia’s human rights ombudswoman.
The returnees were the last to be taken from the Kursk region to Ukraine after Ukrainian forces captured parts of the region in 2024, Moskalkova said.
Ukrainian forces carried out a surprise invasion of Kursk in August 2024, marking one of the war’s greatest battlefield successes. The invasion was the first time Russian territory was occupied by an invader since World War II, and was a humiliating blow to the Kremlin.
