KYIV: Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war each on Friday, Moscow’s defence ministry said, a week after US President Donald Trump announced that a major swap would take place between the two warring sides.
“205 Russian servicemen were returned from territory” controlled by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement on social media, adding that “in exchange, 205 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war were transferred.”
The exchange came amid renewed violence after Ukrainian emergency services said a massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv killed at least 21 people, further damaging hopes for a halt to Moscow’s invasion.
AFP journalists in the Ukrainian capital heard air raid sirens throughout Thursday before hours of explosions, and flashes lit up the sky, forcing residents to shelter in metro stations.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 675 attack drones and 56 missiles, mainly targeting Kyiv, adding that air defence systems intercepted 652 drones and 41 missiles.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said 20 locations in Kyiv were damaged, including residential buildings, a school, a veterinary clinic and other civilian infrastructure.
“Work is still ongoing in Kyiv at the site of the strike on the building –- a Russian missile strike that literally levelled a residential block, from the first to the ninth floor,” Zelensky said in an evening address.
Ukraine’s emergency service said 21 people, including three children, were killed in the attacks, revising an earlier death toll of 16.
Police said seven bodies — including three women, three men and a young girl — were recovered from the rubble of a destroyed residential building.
Another 45 people were wounded.
Ukraine said it shot down 94 percent of all drones and 73 percent of the missiles launched by Russia.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine more than four years ago, said the missile and drone barrage targeted military and energy facilities supporting the Ukrainian army.
The conflict, Europe’s deadliest since World War II, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
