Russia and Ukraine complete prisoner swap hours after Moscow launches major aerial assault
Russia’s Defence Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers. Hours earlier, at least 12 people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine
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 Defence 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 Zelensky confirmed Sunday’s exchange, saying on social media 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.