Ukraine-Russia war latest: New prisoner swap agreed in Istanbul includes return of ‘heroes of Mariupol'

Independent

27-06-2025

North Korea's deployment to Ukraine will be 'significant battlefield inflection' – ISW
North Korea's deployment of its troops to Ukrainian territory will represent 'significant battlefield inflection', the Institute for the Study of War.
'The North Korean and Russian military commands authorising the deployment of North Korean forces to Ukrainian territory would mark a significant battlefield inflection that may improve Russian forces' ability to sustain simultaneous offensive operations in multiple directions, which the Russian military has traditionally struggled to conduct,' the US-based think tank said in its latest assessment.
According to the South Korean intelligence, North Korea may deploy an unspecified number of additional North Korean forces to Russia to fight against Ukraine as early as July or August 2025 and that North Korea continues to arm Russia with artillery ammunition and missiles.
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 06:33
Britain must 'actively prepare' for a war on home soil, major government review warns
The UK must prepare for the possibility of a ' wartime scenario' on home soil, a major new government review has warned.The National Security Strategy, published on Tuesday, has issued the grim warning as events in the Middle East and Russia's war with Ukraine continue to add to international instability.
It comes just 48 hours after Iran threatened to target UK bases following the US attack on its nuclear facilities, before a ceasefire was announced last night.
The strategy also recommends that UK citizens undergo 'national resilience exercises' in preparation for attacks at home.
UK must 'actively prepare' for a war on home soil, major government review warns
The new National Security Strategy has been published with a grim warning as international turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine continues
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 06:29
EU leaders seek a big boost in Ukraine military support but make little progress on Russia sanctions
European Union leaders called for even greater efforts to help meet Ukraine's pressing military needs, and expressed support for the country's quest to join their ranks.
The talks, however, made little headway with new sanctions against Russia, slowing EU's key agenda for months now.
At a summit in Brussels yesterday, the leaders said it was important to deliver more "air defense and anti-drone systems, and large-caliber ammunition, to help Ukraine, as it exercises its inherent right to self-defence, to protect its citizens and territory against Russia's intensified daily attacks."
They also underlined the need to help support Ukraine's defence industry, which can make weapons and ammunition more quickly and cheaply than its European counterparts.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the meeting via videolink.
The leaders said the bloc "remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine's path towards EU membership."
That message comes a day after Nato leaders refrained from putting a reference to Ukraine's hopes of joining the military organisation in their summit statement, due in large part to US resistance.
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 05:58
Zelensky welcomes home fresh batch of Ukrainian prisoners of war
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed home a new batch of the country's soldiers taken captive by Russia as the two sides exchanged more prisoners of war yesterday.
'We are continuing the exchanges, another stage has taken place. Today, warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service are returning home. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022,' he said in a post on X.
'We are doing everything possible to find each person, to verify the information on every name. We must bring all our people home,' he said, just days after he said Russia had sent some of its own dead soldiers to Ukraine in a swap of fallen soldiers.
He also shared an emotional video of the Ukrainian soldiers reuniting with their loved ones upon return to the country at an undisclosed location.
The returned soldiers are seen draped in Ukrainian flags, hugging and crying their loved ones, calling their family members, drinking a beverage and smoking.
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 05:43
Chinese reporter injured in Ukrainian drone attack on Kursk, Russia says
A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Kursk region on the border with Ukraine injured a war correspondent from the Chinese news outlet Phoenix TV, Russian authorities said late last night,
"A Ukrainian drone today struck the village of Korenevo in the Korenevsky district," acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, said on Telegram.
"A 63-year-old correspondent, Lu Yuguang, who went to the border area on his own, was injured."
Mr Khinshtein said in a later post that the journalist had skin cuts to his head and after treatment, refused hospitalisation.
Russia's foreign ministry called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other international organisations to "promptly respond and give a proper assessment" of the incident.
"The targeted attack.... indicates the intention of the Kyiv regime to silence and de facto destroy representatives of any media that seek to convey objective information," Maria Zakharova, the foreign ministry's spokesperson, said in a Telegram post.
According to Russia's state and official media outlets, Lu has been reporting on the war since its early days. Russia launched the war with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.
Lu told Russia's state news agencies that he was feeling fine.
"Western journalists are not visible at all (in Kursk)," Lu said in a video posted by TASS on social media, with his head in bandages, "We, Chinese journalists, want to convey what happened in the Kursk region."
Russia has also urged for an intervention from the United Nations on the incident.
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 05:32
North Korea could send troops to Russia for summer offensive, says South Korea
North Korea may send more troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine this summer, South Korean lawmakers have claimed citing the country's intelligence agency.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes Russia may be readying to mount a large-scale assault against Ukraine in July or August, South Korean member of parliament Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.
This assessment is based on new round-up of troops by the North Korean military, and the visit of a top Russian presidential security official.
Pyongyang is likely to receive technical advice on satellite launches and missile guidance systems in return, the briefing said according to Mr Lee.
Russia and North Korea have said their cooperation is based on a treaty signed by Vladimir Putin and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un, which includes a mutual defence pact.
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 05:07
Russia and Ukraine carry out new round of prisoner swaps
Russia and Ukraine completed another round of prisoner exchanges, officials in both countries said yesterday, part of an agreement struck in Istanbul recently between the two sides.
Both sides exchanged the same number of prisoners, but there was no word on how many soldiers were involved, Russian state RIA news agency said.
Ukraine's coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war said majority of the prsioners had been captive and in Russian custody for more than three years.
The swap included injured soldiers and those with health complaints. The youngest is 24 and the oldest is 62, it said, adding that more exchanges are expected soon.
Many of them were taken prisoner in the Ukrainian city Mariupol, which fell to Russian forces after a lengthy siege in 2022.
27 June 2025 04:20
Kremlin says no progress towards next Russia-Ukraine peace talks
The Kremlin has said there was no progress yet towards setting a date for the next round of peace talks with Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported yesterday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was in favour of continued US mediation effort, another news agency, Tass, reported.
Resuming negotiations after a gap of more than three years, Russia and Ukraine held face-to-face talks in Istanbul on 16 May and 2 June that led to a series of prisoner exchanges and the return of the bodies of dead soldiers.
But they have made no progress towards a ceasefire which Ukraine, with Western backing, has been pressing for.
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 04:05
Trump would join peace talks between Putin and Zelensky, says Erdogan
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Donald Trump told him he would attend potential peace talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Turkey.
But it all depends on if Russian president Vladimir Putin also agreed to take part, Mr Erdogan said.
On his return flight from a Nato summit at The Hague, where he met Mr Trump for the first time since the latter returned to office, Mr Erdogan said he told the US president Ankara aims to bring the Russian and Ukrainian leaders together in Turkey for peace talks.
"He (Trump) said, 'if Russian president Vladimir Putin comes to Istanbul or Ankara for a solution, then I will also come," Mr Erdogan told reporters, according to his office.
"We will hold the necessary contacts and God willing realise this meeting as soon as possible."
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 04:03
The myriad countries arming Russia and Ukraine – and the billions it costs
Donald Trump has suggested that the US could send more Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, and has not ruled out providing the war-torn country with a new military support package.
Speaking at the Nato summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, the president said 'we'll see what happens' when asked whether Washington would add to the $8 billion pledged by Nato allies.
"They do want to have the anti-missile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots," the US president said. "And we're going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We're supplying them to Israel, and they're very effective, 100 per cent effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.'
Here, The Independent takes a look at what weapons the US and other countries have been sending to Ukraine and Russia as the war show no signs of ending soon.
The myriad countries arming Russia and Ukraine – and the billions it costs
Arpan Rai27 June 2025 03:59