After ‘biggest' attack on Kharkiv, Russia expands into east-central Ukraine with prisoner swap deal in limbo
With the prisoner swap deal between Russia and Ukraine in a limbo, Russian forces have expanded their ground offensive into the east-central Ukrainian region. As per the latest reports, Russia said it had advanced into Dnipropetrovsk.
This development comes a day after Russia launched its biggest attack on Kharkiv since the start of the war in 2022.
Citing the Russian defence ministry, Reuters reported that Russian forces have expanded their attacks to the western frontier of Donetsk and are now attacking the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Despite the first round of peace talks between the two countries in Istanbul, both Russia and Ukraine have intensified attacks on one another, especially after Ukraine SBU's 'Operation Spider's Web'.
At least four people were killed after Ukraine's Kharkiv was hit by one of the largest aerial attacks by Russia since 2022, reported AP. Along with this, at least 24 people were injured due to the largest aerial attack on the Ukrainian city.
As per a Telegram post by Mayor Igor Terekhov, the region was jolted by "at least 40 explosions" on Saturday. Ukrainian officials later confirmed that at least five people had been killed due to Russia's attack.
In the first round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, both countries agreed to swap the remains of prisoners of wars and soldiers killed in combat.
However, Russia has accused Ukraine of delaying the swap deal. On Saturday, Moscow accused Kyiv of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Ukraine, however, has denied these claims.
In response to these allegations, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said no date had been agreed between Russia and Ukraine for the return of bodies.
"Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations. We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games and return to constructive work to bring people back to both sides and to clearly implement the agreement in the coming days," the Ukrainian agency said, as reported by AFP.
(With inputs from agencies)
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