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In brief
- Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a two-day ceasefire during Orthodox Easter.
- The two countries have also exchanged bodies of soldiers ahead of the ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Ukraine will adhere to a ceasefire announced by Russia in observance of the Easter holiday.
According to the Kremlin, a temporary halt in hostilities has been declared for the Orthodox Easter period, with Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing his expectation that Ukraine will comply as well.
“In light of the upcoming Orthodox Easter celebrations, a ceasefire is declared from 4 PM on April 11th until the end of April 12th,” stated the official announcement.
President Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine has consistently been open to mutual measures for peace.
“We suggested a ceasefire during the Easter holiday this year, and we will act accordingly,” Zelenskyy communicated via Telegram.
“People need an Easter without threats and a real move towards peace, ‌and Russia has a chance not to return to attacks even after Easter.”
Earlier on Thursday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged the bodies of soldiers, parliamentary deputy Shamsail Saraliev told the Russian news portal rbc.ru.
He said the Ukrainian side had received 1000 killed soldiers while Russia received 41 bodies.
The politician is responsible in the Russian parliament for matters relating to the “special military operation” as the war is officially called in Moscow.
The previous exchange of remains took place in February.
The office of prisoner-of-war affairs in Kyiv confirmed on Telegram that Ukraine had more than 1,000 bodies.
The authority thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for its support.
Forensic experts would now examine the bodies, it said.
This is intended to rule out, among other things, that bodies of Russian soldiers were handed over by mistake.
The staff added that “after the identification of the deceased, the bodies will be handed over to the families for dignified burial”.
Russia and Ukraine exchange soldiers’ bodies on a regular basis.
Last year alone, Ukraine received back more than 15,000 bodies of fallen soldiers, according to official figures.
Russia received only a fraction of that.
Due to the slow but steady advance of Russian troops, the Ukrainian army is not always able to recover its own fallen soldiers.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion with help from allies for more than four years.
— With reporting by Reuters.
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