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Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners
By Christopher Harris
Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.
Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia's Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each on Saturday, and 390 on Friday — the biggest total swap of the war.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Sunday's exchange, saying on X that '303 Ukrainian defenders are home.' He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 'Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.'
Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brother's return.
'My uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here,' she told The Associated Press. 'A moment like that stays with you forever.'
Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange on Friday.
'We were worried about all the guys. He wasn't there on Friday, but I was here — I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.'
In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks.
AP.
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US President Donald Trump has again expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the intensifying Ukraine conflict, a day after warning that Putin was "playing with fire" by resisting ceasefire talks while escalating drone and missile attacks. But Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he was not yet prepared to impose new sanctions on Russia because he did not want the penalties to scuttle a potential peace deal. Russia has proposed holding the next round of direct talks with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, also on Wednesday. There was no immediate response from Kyiv. The public squabble between the US and Russia unfolded as the three-year-old war heats up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front. Delegates from Russia and Ukraine met earlier this month in Istanbul under pressure from Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two, but the talks failed to yield the ceasefire that Kyiv and its Western allies have pushed for. Moscow said certain conditions needed to be met before a ceasefire agreement. Asked whether the Russian leader might be intentionally delaying negotiations, Trump said, "We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not, and if he is, we'll respond a little differently." After speaking to Trump on May 19, Putin said he had agreed to work with Ukraine on a memorandum which would set out the contours of a peace accord including the timing of a ceasefire. 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After Russia said in late April it had ejected Ukrainian forces from the western Kursk region, Moscow's forces have pushed over the border into the neighbouring Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine and taken several villages there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region, but added that Kyiv had taken steps to prevent Moscow from conducting a large-scale offensive there. Speaking in Berlin during a visit by Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany and Ukraine will develop the joint production of long-range missiles, a move the Kremlin said was irresponsible and amounted to stoking the war. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said that the US-led NATO military alliance was using the Ukrainian crisis to build up its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic but that Russia was advancing along the entire front in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump has again expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the intensifying Ukraine conflict, a day after warning that Putin was "playing with fire" by resisting ceasefire talks while escalating drone and missile attacks. But Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he was not yet prepared to impose new sanctions on Russia because he did not want the penalties to scuttle a potential peace deal. Russia has proposed holding the next round of direct talks with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, also on Wednesday. There was no immediate response from Kyiv. The public squabble between the US and Russia unfolded as the three-year-old war heats up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front. Delegates from Russia and Ukraine met earlier this month in Istanbul under pressure from Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two, but the talks failed to yield the ceasefire that Kyiv and its Western allies have pushed for. Moscow said certain conditions needed to be met before a ceasefire agreement. Asked whether the Russian leader might be intentionally delaying negotiations, Trump said, "We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not, and if he is, we'll respond a little differently." After speaking to Trump on May 19, Putin said he had agreed to work with Ukraine on a memorandum which would set out the contours of a peace accord including the timing of a ceasefire. Putin's demands for ending the war include a written pledge from Western leaders that NATO will not expand eastward to former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia and the lifting of some sanctions on Russia, according to Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump had warned Putin that he was "playing with fire" and that "really bad" things would have happened to Russia already if not for Trump himself. Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told a state TV reporter that Trump's remark suggested he is not well-briefed on the realities of the war. Russia said on Wednesday it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine's military said it had struck several Russian weapon production sites. Ukraine said Russia had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles. After Russia said in late April it had ejected Ukrainian forces from the western Kursk region, Moscow's forces have pushed over the border into the neighbouring Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine and taken several villages there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region, but added that Kyiv had taken steps to prevent Moscow from conducting a large-scale offensive there. Speaking in Berlin during a visit by Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany and Ukraine will develop the joint production of long-range missiles, a move the Kremlin said was irresponsible and amounted to stoking the war. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said that the US-led NATO military alliance was using the Ukrainian crisis to build up its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic but that Russia was advancing along the entire front in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump has again expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the intensifying Ukraine conflict, a day after warning that Putin was "playing with fire" by resisting ceasefire talks while escalating drone and missile attacks. But Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he was not yet prepared to impose new sanctions on Russia because he did not want the penalties to scuttle a potential peace deal. Russia has proposed holding the next round of direct talks with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, also on Wednesday. There was no immediate response from Kyiv. The public squabble between the US and Russia unfolded as the three-year-old war heats up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front. Delegates from Russia and Ukraine met earlier this month in Istanbul under pressure from Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two, but the talks failed to yield the ceasefire that Kyiv and its Western allies have pushed for. Moscow said certain conditions needed to be met before a ceasefire agreement. Asked whether the Russian leader might be intentionally delaying negotiations, Trump said, "We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not, and if he is, we'll respond a little differently." After speaking to Trump on May 19, Putin said he had agreed to work with Ukraine on a memorandum which would set out the contours of a peace accord including the timing of a ceasefire. Putin's demands for ending the war include a written pledge from Western leaders that NATO will not expand eastward to former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia and the lifting of some sanctions on Russia, according to Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump had warned Putin that he was "playing with fire" and that "really bad" things would have happened to Russia already if not for Trump himself. Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told a state TV reporter that Trump's remark suggested he is not well-briefed on the realities of the war. Russia said on Wednesday it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine's military said it had struck several Russian weapon production sites. Ukraine said Russia had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles. After Russia said in late April it had ejected Ukrainian forces from the western Kursk region, Moscow's forces have pushed over the border into the neighbouring Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine and taken several villages there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region, but added that Kyiv had taken steps to prevent Moscow from conducting a large-scale offensive there. Speaking in Berlin during a visit by Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany and Ukraine will develop the joint production of long-range missiles, a move the Kremlin said was irresponsible and amounted to stoking the war. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said that the US-led NATO military alliance was using the Ukrainian crisis to build up its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic but that Russia was advancing along the entire front in Ukraine.
