KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine exchanged a whole bunch extra prisoners on Saturday as a part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation in in any other case failed efforts to achieve a ceasefire. The trade got here hours after Kyiv got here beneath a large-scale Russian drone and missile assault that left at the very least 15 individuals injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s protection ministry stated all sides introduced residence 307 extra troopers on Saturday, a day after every launched a complete of 390 combatants and civilians.
“We anticipate extra to come back tomorrow,” Zelenskyy stated on his official Telegram channel. Russia’s protection ministry additionally stated it anticipated the trade to be continued, although it didn’t give particulars.
Hours earlier, explosions and anti-aircraft hearth have been heard all through Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles focused the Ukrainian capital in a single day.
In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the primary time the 2 sides met nose to nose for peace talks since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of conflict and civilian detainees every.
‘A tough night time’
Officers stated Russia attacked Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones in a single day whereas Ukrainian forces shot down six missiles and neutralized 245 drones — 128 drones have been shot down and 117 have been thwarted utilizing digital warfare.
The Kyiv Metropolis Army Administration stated it was one of many greatest mixed missile and drone assaults on the capital.
“A tough night time for all of us,” the administration stated in an announcement.
Posting on X, Ukraine’s Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha referred to as it “clear proof that elevated sanctions strain on Moscow is critical to speed up the peace course of.”
In the meantime, the EU’s ambassador to Kyiv described it as “horrific.”
“If anybody nonetheless doubts Russia desires conflict to proceed — learn the information,” Katarina Mathernová wrote on the social community.
The particles of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at the very least six Kyiv metropolis districts. Based on the appearing head of town’s army administration, Tymur Tkachenko, six individuals required medical care after the assault and two fires have been sparked in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district.
The Obolon district, the place a residential constructing was closely broken within the assault, was the toughest hit with at the very least 5 wounded within the space, the administration stated.
Yurii Bondarchuk, an area resident, stated the air raid siren “began as common, then the drones began to fly round as they continuously do.” Moments later, he heard a growth and noticed shattered glass fly by the air.
“The balcony is completely worn out, in addition to the home windows and the doorways,” he stated as he stood at the hours of darkness, smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves whereas firefighters labored to extinguish the flames.
The air raid alert in Kyiv lasted greater than seven hours, warning of incoming missiles and drones.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitalii Klitschko, warned residents forward of the assault that greater than 20 Russian strike drones have been heading towards town. Because the assault continued, he stated drone particles fell on a shopping center and a residential constructing in Obolon. Emergency providers have been headed to the positioning, Klitschko stated.
Individually, 13 civilians have been killed on Friday and in a single day into Saturday in Russian assaults in Ukraine’s south, east and north, regional authorities stated. Three individuals died after a Russian ballistic missile focused port infrastructure in Odesa on the Black Sea, native Gov. Oleh Kiper stated.
Russia’s protection ministry on Saturday claimed its forces in a single day struck numerous army targets throughout Ukraine, together with missile and drone-producing crops, a reconnaissance middle and a launching web site for anti-aircraft missiles.
A posh deal
The prisoner swap on Friday was the primary part of a sophisticated deal involving the trade of 1,000 prisoners from all sides.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the primary part of the deal introduced residence 390 Ukrainians, with additional releases anticipated over the weekend, which can make it the most important swap of the conflict. Russia’s Protection Ministry stated it obtained the identical variety of individuals from Ukraine.
The swap befell on the border with Belarus, in northern Ukraine, in keeping with a Ukrainian official who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to talk publicly.
The launched Russians have been taken to Belarus for medical therapy, the Russian Protection Ministry stated.
Nevertheless, the trade — the newest of dozens of swaps for the reason that conflict started and the most important involving Ukrainian civilians to date — didn’t herald a halt within the combating.
Battles continued alongside the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) entrance line, the place tens of 1000’s of troopers have been killed, and neither nation has relented in its deep strikes.
After the Could 16 Istanbul assembly, Turkish Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan referred to as the prisoner swap a “confidence-building measure” and stated the events had agreed in precept to satisfy once more.
However Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Friday that there was no settlement but on the venue for the following spherical of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued.
Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov stated Moscow would give Ukraine a draft doc outlining its situations for a “sustainable, long-term, complete” peace settlement, as soon as the continuing prisoner trade had completed.
European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his toes in peace efforts whereas he tries to press his bigger military’s battlefield initiative and seize extra Ukrainian land.
The Istanbul assembly revealed that each side remained far aside on key situations for ending the combating. One such situation for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a short lived ceasefire as a primary step towards a peaceable settlement.
Russia’s Protection Ministry stated it had shot down 788 Ukrainian drones away from the battlefield between Could 20 and Could 23.
