Kiev, Moscow exchange POWs after heavy overnight strikes hit Ukraine

Yahoo

3 days ago

Ukraine and Russia exchanged a second group of prisoners of war on Tuesday, after Ukrainian authorities reported another night of heavy Russian air attacks.
The group of Ukrainian prisoners consisted of seriously ill and severely injured soldiers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. They will all receive immediate medical assistance, he said.
Among them were members of the army, the National Guard, transport services and border guards, according to Zelensky.
The Defence Ministry in Moscow confirmed that the exchange had taken place at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. The Russian soldiers will be taken to Russia after a medical examination, the ministry said in a statement.
Neither side provided any information about the number of prisoners that were exchanged.
Ukraine and Russia swapped a first group of prisoners of war on Monday. Zelensky initially wrote that seriously injured people were among them, but the responsible Ukrainian authority later clarified that the group comprised soldiers under the age of 25.
Zelensky confirmed on Tuesday that the exchanges would continue.
During negotiations in Istanbul last week, the warring parties agreed to exchange at least 1,000 prisoners from each side, as well as several thousand bodies of fallen soldiers, but the implementation has been mired with complications.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of refusing to accept the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers from Russian representatives.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Tuesday that more than 1,200 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were waiting to be returned in refrigerated lorries at the Belarusian border.
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said it was inhumane that Ukraine was not taking back its dead.
However, the Ukrainian coordination staff has pushed back against accusations from Moscow, saying the Russian side had begun the handover of the remains on its own authority without having agreed a precise date. It stressed that all dead soldiers will be brought home.
Heavy strikes hit Ukraine's Odessa and Kiev
Ukraine on Tuesday reported heavy overnight Russian airstrikes on the southern port city of Odessa and the capital Kiev.
Two people were killed and at least ten others were injured after a drone strike in Odessa, Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov wrote on Telegram.
Attacks were also reported in the capital Kiev, where authorities said at least four people were injured. A dpa reporter described hearing heavy air defence fire during the night and Ukraine's air force said ballistic missiles were also used.
The Kiev city military administration said damage was reported in six out of the capital's 10 districts. At least one woman was injured, and the Kyiv Independent reported, citing local authorities, that several cars caught fire and buildings were damaged.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had attacked with 315 drones and dummy drones, two North Korean ballistic missiles and five cruise missiles. It said 284 targets were neutralized, including all missiles and cruise missiles.
Zelensky appeals for more pressure on Russia
Zelensky called for more international pressure to be placed on Moscow following the overnight attacks.
"Today was one of the largest attacks on Kiev. Odesa, Dnipro region, and Chernihiv region were also targeted," he wrote on the X platform on Tuesday.
These airstrikes had "drowned out" all efforts by the United States and other countries to achieve peace, he said.
Zelensky called on the US, Europe "and others around the world who called for an end to the war" to take action. The response to such Russian attacks must not be silence, he said.
Russia says it shot down 102 Ukrainian drones
In the Russian border region of Belgorod, a woman was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Tuesday. There were also reports of injuries.
The Russian Defence Ministry reported that 102 Ukrainian drones were shot down over several Russian territories and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
The information provided by the two countries cannot be independently verified.
According to Russian media reports, one of the targets was a drone factory near the city of Yelabuga in the republic of Tatarstan.
Russia's aviation authority placed temporary restrictions on take-offs and landings at 13 airports during Monday night and Tuesday morning, including the airports of Moscow and St Petersburg.