
Russia, Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 POWs from each side, Ukrainian Defence Minister says
KYIV, May 16 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war from each side, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told Ukrainian TV on Friday as talks in Istanbul ended.
If the exchange goes ahead, it would be the biggest prisoner swap in more than three years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Britain is ALREADY at war with Russia and ‘we are in pretty big trouble' admits defence expert in bombshell warning
RUSSIA is already at war with Britain, an author of the Government's defence review has warned. Fiona Hill, who was the White House's chief Russia adviser during Donald Trump 's first term, delivered the stark warning of the threat posed by Vladimir Putin. 4 4 4 She said: 'We are in pretty big trouble. "Russia has hardened as an adversary in ways that we probably hadn't anticipated.' Ms Hill said Moscow has been ' menacing the UK in various different ways ' for years, including poisonings and assassinations on British soil, carrying out cyber attacks and cutting sea cables. In her grim alert, the Kremlin expert said: 'Russia is at war with us.' And she warned that Britain can no longer rely on US military might to protect itself from enemy states. Ms Hill co-wrote the Strategic Defence Review, which warned the UK is facing its biggest threats since the Cold War — and set out plans to urgently build more bombs and guns to arm ourselves. Her comments came as Russian missiles blitzed Kharkiv, killing three people and injuring at least 22, including a six-week-old baby and a 14-year-old girl. The eastern Ukrainian city was struck by 48 drones, two missiles and five glider bombs as part of a huge, countrywide bombardment by Putin in retaliation for last week's Spider Web attack on his nuclear bombers. PM Sir Keir Starmer used an article in last week's Sun on Sunday to deliver his starkest warning yet of the danger of war. Putting the nation on a war footing, he said Britain must prepare to 'sight and win' against our enemies. New footage of Op Spiderweb shows drone blitzing Putin's burning aircraft 4


Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
Deadly Russian strikes condemned as 'savage' - as dozens more injured in Ukrainian city
At least four people have been killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv after a series of Russian attacks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described one of the attacks as a "savage killing", saying dozens of people had been injured. It comes after Kyiv embarrassed Moscow when it launched a daring drone raid deep inside Russia last weekend, destroying dozens of bombers. Meanwhile, attempted US-led peace talks between the two appear to be floundering. During the attacks on Saturday, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said: "Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack in the entire time of the full-scale war." The first wave of the Russian strike was a large drone-and-missile attack in the early hours of Saturday morning. Nightly attacks from Moscow have become a routine part of the conflict. At least three people died and 21 others were injured. There are reports that some people remain trapped underneath the rubble. Then, in the afternoon, Russia dropped aerial bombs on the city centre, killing at least one person and wounding more. Ukraine and Russia also accused one another of trying to sabotage a planned prisoner exchange. Residents reckon with Russian strikes As emergency workers fought fires at the attack sites in Kharkiv, residents had to deal with the fallout of strikes that could have claimed their lives. Alina Belous tried to extinguish flames with buckets of water to rescue a young girl trapped inside a burning building, as she called out for help. "We were trying to put it out ourselves with our buckets, together with our neighbours," she said. "Then the rescuers arrived and started helping us put out the fire, but there was smoke and they worried that we couldn't stay there. "When the ceiling started falling off, they took us out." Vadym Ihnachenko said he initially thought it was a neighbouring building going up in flames - not his own. He was forced to flee after seeing smoke coming from his building's roof. Diplomatic efforts stall Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiha said. Russia acknowledged the attacks, but not the deaths, saying it had targeted military sites, while pictures show apartment blocks on fire. The regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said children were among those injured in the first attack. While a US-led diplomatic push for peace has led to two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, they delivered no significant breakthroughs. Later on Saturday, Russia and Ukraine also accused each other of endangering plans to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action.


Sky News
5 hours ago
- Sky News
Dawn French apologises for 'mocking tone' in video about Israel-Hamas conflict
Dawn French has apologised and taken down a video she posted about the war in Gaza after facing backlash. The popular actress and comedian said she apologised "unreservedly" after posting a video in a "mocking tone". In the original 40-second clip, the Vicar of Dibley star said: "Complicated, no, but nuanced. But bottom line is no." Then, using a different tone, she went on: "Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us, yeah but no. "But we want that land... and we have history... No. "Those people aren't really even people, are they really? No." On Saturday afternoon, she issued an apology, saying that in an effort to convey "an important message" she had "clumsily used a mocking tone". "My intention was NEVER to mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror of what happened on 7 October 2023," she posted on X and Instagram. She said her intention was to "point the finger of shame at the behaviour of the cruel leader on ALL sides of this atrocious war". French faced criticised after her initial post. Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was "saddened" by it. She said: "This mocking voice 'bad thing' of October 7 that Dawn (who I revere by the way) appears ro [sic] be mocking involved the most horrific terrorist attack." MP Rosie Duffield responded to Oberman's post, saying: "One can, and should hate what is happening in Gaza and also condemn the hideous events of October 7th. "It is agonising to see events unfold, and requires extremely careful, measured and well-considered comments and actions. This is not that." Some social media users tried to pressure M&S, who French voices adverts for, over the incident. In October 2023, Hamas led other militant groups in a cross-border attack, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 people hostage. Since then, Israel has launched a number of large-scale campaigns in the region, including in Gaza where over 54,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave. Many of these are said to be women and children.