Truce begins between Ukraine and Russia for Orthodox Easter holiday

(AFP) The truce between Russia and Ukraine for Orthodox Easter officially began on Saturday on the front lines, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his army will respond "blow for blow" to any violation of this suspension of hostilities.

The Kremlin indicated on Thursday that the ceasefire, accepted by the Ukrainian leader, would come into force this Saturday evening and will end at the end of the day on Sunday.

The war in Ukraine, sparked by the Russian invasion of February 2022, has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people, making it the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.

In the hours before the truce officially began, both sides carried out nighttime drone strikes.

In Ukraine, hit by at least 160 drones, four people were killed in the east and south of the country, according to Kiev.

Russian strikes also left 14 wounded in the northeastern Sumi region bordering Russia and another 10 in Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, according to local authorities.

On the other side of the border, a wave of drones launched by Ukraine against the southern Russian region of Krasnodar caused a fire at an oil depot and damaged several residential buildings, officials said.

In addition, two people were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on territories of the Donetsk region under Russian control, Russian authorities said.

In parallel, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Saturday, with 175 released by each side.

In addition, according to Moscow and Kiev, 14 civilian detainees (seven from each side) were also handed over.