Moscow and Kyiv have both signalled the end of the war in Ukraine may be in sight, as chilling footage shows a Ukrainian drone brigade killing 8,000 Russian troops in a single month.
The video shows stricken Russian soldiers desperately trying to fend off approaching drones, throwing sticks and swatting at them in a futile bid to survive.
The grim scenes emerged as both sides begin a tense 32-hour truce to mark Easter in the Orthodox calendar.
Russia's hardline foreign minister issued a surprise statement that 'the prospect of a political and diplomatic settlement is on the horizon.'
Vladimir Putin's 76-year-old top diplomat laced this with his usual invective against the West - in particular the EU - but appeared to concede that an end to the bloody four year conflict could be in sight.
At the same time, Ukraine's top negotiator Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov, 40, made clear Russia is shifting its stance.
'They all understand the war needs to end. That's why they are negotiating,' he told Bloomberg.
'I don't think it will be long.'
Budanov - former head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence - said Russia was moving to an endgame because the 'trillions' it has spend on the conflict was taking its toll.
Chilling footage shows a Ukrainian drone brigade killing 8,000 Russian troops in a single month
The video shows stricken Russian soldiers desperately trying to fend off approaching drones, throwing sticks and swatting at them in a futile bid to survive
The grim scenes emerged as both sides begin a tense 32-hour truce to mark Easter in the Orthodox calendar
He did not explain how a territorial carve-up could be agreed, with Putin demanding the entire Donbas - Donetsk and Luhansk regions - as a war trophy, something Kyiv refuses.
'No final decision has been made yet,' he said.
'But, in principle, everyone now clearly understands the limits of what is acceptable. That's enormous progress.'
Zelensky also claimed this week that Putin may feel under pressure to halt the conflict - but warned he could equally double down on repression and order a new mobilisation.
'Perhaps it's the end of the war in one form or another,' he said.
'Or, on the contrary, an escalation of the war.
'Then it would mean even greater mobilisation for them.'
Ukraine today highlighted the appalling toll Russia is suffering as Putin seeks to capture the rest of Donetsk region, something he has abjectly failed to do since he started invading it 12 years ago despite his supposedly superior armed forces.
Graphic footage from Ukraine's Birds of Madyar drone brigade are seen targeting Russian troops pushed onto the frontline in the Donbas.
A handout photo made available by the Ukrainian State Emergency Service (SES) shows Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential area in Odesa, Ukraine on April 11
Pictured: Servicemen of the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade attending a joint prayer and communion ceremony for Ukrainian servicemen
A handout photo made available by the official Telegram channel of the head of the Odesa City Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak, shows Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential area in Odesa, Ukraine, April 11
'Ukrainian strike drones are destroying dozens of Russian soldiers on the Pokrovsky front line in the Donetsk region,' it was said in the video.
The harrowing scenes show multiple 'cannon fodder' fighters ambushed on the battlefield by the Ukrainian FPV drones.
Soldiers seek to fend off the buzzing drones with sticks or guns or their feet - mostly in vain.
In one month, the brigade 'eliminated 8,005 Russian troops'.
The sequence is a warning to the Russians of the fruitlessness of Putin's dream of conquering the entire Donetsk region.
Ukraine still controls around 20 per cent of this territory, seen as crucial to stop any future Russian invasion bid.
Today's truce will end at midnight following Orthodox Easter Sunday.