Russia and Ukraine trade prisoners, drone strikes ahead of Easter truce

KYIV, Apr 11: Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners Saturday but also fired waves of drones at each other overnight, just hours before a temporary ceasefire was set to take effect for Orthodox Easter, according to officials.

Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky said his country would respond "in kind" to any Russian violations of the ceasefire.

The warring sides exchanged 175 prisoners of war each, both countries said, in one of their few areas of cooperation.

The United Arab Emirates helped mediate the exchange, the Russian defence ministry said.

Hours before the truce was due to start, Russia launched at least 160 drones at Ukraine, killing four people in the country's east and south and wounding dozens of others, Ukrainian authorities said.

The southern Odesa region was among the hardest hit, with authorities reporting two dead and damage to civilian infrastructure.

A wave of Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at an oil depot and damaged apartment buildings in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, authorities said.

Two people died in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russian-installed authorities said.

The Kremlin ordered a temporary truce from Saturday at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period.

Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky said Kyiv had "repeatedly stated" it was ready for a ceasefire over Easter, and was willing to reciprocate.    �"AFP