Key developments on April 19-20:
- A number of Russian ceasefire violations reported from entrance line throughout Easter ceasefire, Zelensky says
- Ukraine brings house 277 POWs in swap with Russia
- Ukraine advances in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, Zelensky says
- Republican US Congressman Fitzpatrick visits Ukraine’s entrance line, indicators a shell for Putin
- Russia prepares to push towards Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, monitoring group says
A number of Russian ceasefire violations throughout the entrance line have been reported since an Easter truce was declared by the Kremlin, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on April 20.
Russia's Easter ceasefire was supposed to return into impact at 6 p.m. on April 19 and final till midnight on April 21, with Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming it will "take a look at Ukraine's sincerity in pursuing peace talks."
Nevertheless, the Armed Forces of Ukraine has noticed a rise in Russian shelling and using kamikaze drones since 10 a.m., with using FPV drones "doubling," based on Zelensky, relaying info offered by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Russian forces have already carried out 26 assaults between midnight and midday at this time, Zelensky added.
The Russian army is reportedly most lively within the Pokrovsk and Siversk instructions in Ukraine's jap Donetsk Oblast.
"We’re documenting each Russian violation of its self-declared dedication to a full ceasefire for the Easter interval and are ready to offer the mandatory info to our companions," Zelensky said.
"Both Putin doesn’t have full management over his military, or the scenario proves that in Russia, they don’t have any intention of constructing a real transfer towards ending the warfare, and are solely enthusiastic about favorable PR protection."
Zelensky additionally repeated his name to stress Moscow to "genuinely decide to a ceasefire" for 30 days, slightly than merely throughout the Easter holiday.
Russian FPV drone assaults targeting civilians have been additionally reported in Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast after the Easter ceasefire got here into impact, with at the least 4 individuals reported injured and one particular person killed.
The Kyiv IndependentKate Tsurkan
Ukraine brings house 277 POWs in swap with Russia
Ukraine introduced house one other 277 troopers in a major prisoner exchange with Russia forward of the Easter vacation, President Zelensky introduced on April 19.
The most recent swap was mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
"I thank everybody who made this return of our individuals potential," Zelensky said. "I’m particularly grateful to the United Arab Emirates for his or her mediation."
In response to the Coordination Headquarters for the Therapy of Prisoners of Warfare (POWs), 246 Ukrainian service members have been released as a part of the change with Russia. One other 31 have been launched exterior of the change.
Beforehand, Sky Information reported that the Easter swap would contain 246 POWs from either side, in addition to 46 injured troopers.
The troopers launched on April 19 took half within the protection of Mariupol and different elements of Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts, Zelensky mentioned.
The service members belonged to Ukraine's Armed Forces, Nationwide Guard, State Transport Service, and Border Guard Service, however most have been from the Marine Corps, particularly these taken prisoner within the surrounded metropolis of Mariupol in April 2022.
The returned prisoners embody 9 officers and 268 privates and sergeants, the Coordination Headquarters reported.
That is the 63rd prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine because the begin of the full-scale warfare. The newest POW exchange between Ukraine and Russia came about on March 19, with 175 Ukrainians introduced again house.
For the reason that starting of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Kyiv has returned 4,552 individuals from Russia's captivity, together with each troopers and civilians, based on Zelensky.
Ukraine floated the concept of an all-for-all prisoner exchange again in 2024, however Russia has not agreed to the proposal.
Ukraine advances in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, Zelensky says
Ukrainian forces have advanced in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, President Zelensky claimed on April 19, citing a report from Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Ukraine launched a small-scale offensive in Belgorod Oblast in late March, marking Kyiv's second cross-border operation in Russian territory after the August 2024 Kursk incursion.
Zelensky mentioned on April 19 that Syrskyi briefed him on the exercise of Ukrainian troops in Russia.
"Our forces continued their exercise in Kursk Oblast at this time and are sustaining their positions. In Belgorod Oblast, our army superior and elevated our zone of management," Zelensky said.
The report comes almost two weeks after the president confirmed the presence of Ukrainian forces in Belgorod Oblast. Zelensky on April 7 mentioned that cross-border operations have been "completely simply" and a method of returning Russia's warfare "to the place it got here from."
Kyiv has carried out occasional cross-border raids since 2023, with quite a lot of Russian volunteer soldiers preventing alongside Ukrainian items. These raids have been hours-long and served primarily as political operations slightly than army ones.
Ukraine launched a major cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, occupying Russian border territories in an try and divert Russian consideration from front-line areas of jap Ukraine.
Whereas Kyiv managed to occupy elements of Kursk Oblast for seven months, Russia recaptured the logistics hub of Sudzha in March 2025 amid a counteroffensive that compelled Ukrainian troops to withdraw from a considerable a part of the area.
Russian army bloggers and unbiased analysts reported on March 29 that Ukrainian forces advanced three to four kilometers into Belgorod Oblast, participating in battles with Russian troops.
The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk
Republican US Congressman Fitzpatrick visits Ukraine’s entrance line, indicators a shell for Putin
U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, a pro-Ukraine Republican representing Pennsylvania, visited Ukrainian troops near the front line on April 18, following his assembly with President Zelensky in Kyiv.
"These are wonderful troopers, the women and men of the Ukrainian army, very similar to the women and men of the U.S. army, have this wonderful preventing spirit. They're preventing for his or her democracy, they're preventing for the liberty – all of us in America want to face behind them," Fitzpatrick mentioned in a video address filmed on the entrance line, revealed on his Fb account.
"I at all times have and at all times may have their again. I encourage all my colleagues in Congress to return right here."
Fitzpatrick's go to comes as Washington signaled that it was able to stop its mediation efforts to finish Russia's warfare in opposition to Ukraine if one of many sides "makes it troublesome."
In a submit shared on Fb, Fitzpatrick revealed one other video, exhibiting him signing an artillery shell with a message to Vladimir Putin.
"It was my profound honor to ship a really 'private' message to Vladimir Putin at this time, from the entrance traces of the warfare close to the Russian border, on behalf of our PA-1 group," Fitzpatrick wrote.
The congressman said he had spent a number of days on the bottom, visiting artillery items of the Nationwide Guard and the drone operators from the Third Assault Brigade, who he praised for "utterly altering warfare – not simply right here however throughout the globe."
Fitzpatrick mentioned that throughout the go to, the group was shelled close to the Russian border, tracked by Russian drones, and compelled to hold out an emergency evacuation from the realm.
In response to Fitzpatrick, the territories beforehand occupied by Russian forces have been "utterly burned down."
"That's what they do. They overwhelm you with our bodies, overwhelm you with artillery with not loads of thought behind it," he mentioned.
Earlier on April 17, Fitzpatrick met with Zelensky, throughout which the 2 mentioned U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, Washington's proposed full and unconditional ceasefire, and broader efforts to attain what Zelensky described as "a dignified and lasting peace."
The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk
Russia prepares to push towards Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, monitoring group says
Russian troops are solidifying their presence within the village of Kalynove in Donetsk Oblast as they prepare for an advance towards Stara Mykolaivka and the highway to Kostiantynivka, Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState reported on April 18.
Russian forces are deploying infantry and establishing logistical routes and communication traces in Kalynove, based on DeepState.
There was a notable slowdown in Russia's offensive operations after months of regular territorial beneficial properties throughout jap Ukraine. In response to a DeepState report from April 1, Russian troops captured simply 133 sq. kilometers in March — the bottom month-to-month whole since June 2024.
Ukrainian troopers working within the space reported an awesome presence of Russian drones within the space of Kalynove, based on DeepState. New Russian drone crews, beforehand lively in battles in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, have arrived to the realm, the group mentioned.
Russian forces try to disrupt Ukrainian logistics and at the moment are in a position to function drones deep sufficient to succeed in Kostiantynivka, the report added.
Kostiantynivka is a metropolis in Donetsk Oblast with a pre-war inhabitants of 67,000 individuals. Town has been one of many key logistical hubs for the Ukrainian army in Donetsk Oblast because the begin of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. It’s at present positioned about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the entrance line in Chasiv Yar.
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