Ukraine says Russia launched biggest overnight drone attack of the war

Australia Broadcast Center

8 hours ago

Russia has launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, the Ukrainian air force has said.
It was the latest in a series of retaliations from Moscow since Ukraine destroyed a number of Russian bombers in drone attacks on air bases deep in the country earlier this month.
The Ukrainian air force says Russia also fired 20 missiles of various types at different parts of the country, mainly targeting central and western areas.
Ukraine's air defence units downed 460 out of 479 drones and 19 out of 20 missiles launched by the Russian forces, the air force said in a statement.
A military airfield in the city of Dubno, close to Ukraine's western border, was the key target, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said.
Officials said one person was injured.
The Associated Press could not independently verify these claims.
This escalation in aerial attacks comes as Russia renews its push on eastern and north-eastern parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Sunday, local time, that in some of those areas "the situation is very difficult", but provided no details.
The Ukrainian General Staff claimed on Monday that special operations forces struck two Russian fighter jets stationed at the Savasleyka airfield in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region, about 650 kilometres north-east of the Ukrainian border.
The statement did not say how the planes were hit, and there was no immediate comment on the claim from the Russian authorities.
Some Russian war bloggers said there was no damage to the warplanes, according to AP.
Russia and Ukraine carried out an exchange of prisoners of war on Monday, local time, involving POWs under the age of 25 and others who had been severely wounded.
It was the start of what could become the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far.
The two nations reached an agreement during direct talks in Istanbul to exchange at least 1,200 POWs on each side and repatriate thousands of bodies of those killed in the war.
It was one of the few things the two sides were able to agree on earlier this month, though broader negotiations failed to get close to ending the war.
Mr Zelenskyy said his country had received a first group of prisoners from Russia, adding it would take several days to complete the swap.
Neither side said how many prisoners had been swapped on Monday.
But the Russian Defence Ministry said in its own statement that the same number of military personnel had been exchanged on each side.
AP/Reuters