Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners hours after a massive attack on Kyiv

KYIV Ukraine AP Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners Saturday as part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire The exchange came hours after Kyiv came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack that left at least people injured Ukraine s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia s defense ministry noted each side brought home more soldiers on Saturday a day after each issued a total of combatants and civilians Further releases expected over the weekend are set to make the swap the largest in more than three years of war We expect more to come the following morning Zelenskyy revealed on his official Telegram channel Russia s defense ministry also noted it expected the exchange to be continued though it did not give details Hours earlier explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as multiple sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital overnight In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia s full-scale invasion Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap prisoners of war and civilian detainees each A laborious night Authorities commented Russia attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and Shahed drones overnight while Ukrainian forces shot down six missiles and neutralized drones drones were shot down and were thwarted using electronic warfare The Kyiv City Military Administration noted it was one of the biggest combined missile and drone attacks on the capital A challenging night for all of us the administration commented in a comment Posting on X Ukraine s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it clear evidence that increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process Posting on X U K Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke of another night of terror for Ukrainian civilians These are not the actions of a country seeking peace Lammy noted of the Russian strike Katarina Mathernov the European Union s ambassador to Kyiv described the attack as horrific If anyone still doubts Russia wants war to continue read the news Katarina Mathernov wrote on the social framework Air raid alert in Kyiv The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six Kyiv city districts According to the acting head of the city s military administration Tymur Tkachenko six people required therapeutic care after the attack and two fires were sparked in Kyiv s Solomianskyi district The Obolon district where a residential building was heavily damaged in the attack was the hardest hit with at least five wounded in the area the administration reported Yurii Bondarchuk a local resident noted the air raid siren started as usual then the drones started to fly around as they constantly do Moments later he heard a boom and saw shattered glass fly through the air The balcony is totally wiped out as well as the windows and the doors he declared as he stood in the dark smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames The air raid alert in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours warning of incoming missiles and drones Kyiv s mayor Vitalii Klitschko warned residents ahead of the attack that more than Russian strike drones were heading toward the city As the attack continued he stated drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in Obolon Crisis services were headed to the site Klitschko noted Separately civilians were killed on Friday and overnight into Saturday in Russian attacks in Ukraine s south east and north regional administration disclosed Three people died after a Russian ballistic missile targeted port infrastructure in Odesa on the Black Sea local Gov Oleh Kiper announced Russia later commented the strike Friday targeted a cargo ship carrying military equipment Russia s defense ministry on Saturday claimed its forces overnight struck various military targets across Ukraine including missile and drone-producing plants a reconnaissance center and a launching site for anti-aircraft missiles A complex deal The prisoner swap on Friday was the first phase of a complicated deal involving the exchange of prisoners from each side It took place at the limit with Belarus in northern Ukraine according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly The issued Russians were taken to Belarus for anatomical restoration the Russian Defense Ministry commented POWs arrived at the physiological facility in the Chernihiv region for a second day on Saturday But for several their arrival was bittersweet Those who were not reunited with their loved ones took solace in the disclosed POWs providing various information about when their relatives were last seen Anna Marchenko the daughter of a missing Ukrainian serviceman was elated when a published POW announced they had seen her father This is such a big news It s like a fresh breath of air she disclosed I didn t see him but at least it s chosen news At least it s news that gives us the opportunity to continue to breathe and live in peace However the exchange the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians so far did not herald a halt in the fighting Battles continued along the roughly -kilometer -mile front line where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed and neither country has relented in its deep strikes After the May Istanbul meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a confidence-building measure and revealed the parties had agreed in principle to meet again But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a sustainable long-term comprehensive peace agreement once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished Far apart on key conditions European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land The Istanbul meeting revealed that both sides remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting One such condition for Ukraine backed by its Western allies is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement Russia s Defense Ministry revealed that overnight and early on Saturday its forces shot down over Ukrainian drones over six provinces in western and southern Russia The drone strikes injured three people in the Tula region south of Moscow local Gov Dmitriy Milyaev revealed and sparked a fire at an industrial site there Andriy Kovalenko of Ukraine s National Safeguard and Defense Council stated Saturday the drones hit a plant in Tula that makes chemicals used in explosives and rocket fuel