{"id":127977,"date":"2025-05-24T12:26:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T12:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/127977\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T12:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T12:26:12","slug":"russia-and-ukraine-swap-hundreds-more-prisoners-hours-after-a-massive-attack-on-kyiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/127977\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners, hours after a massive attack on Kyiv"},"content":{"rendered":"

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners on Saturday as part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation<\/a> 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 15 people injured. <\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia\u2019s defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers on Saturday, a day after each released a total of 390 combatants and civilians. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect more to come tomorrow,\u201d Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel. Russia\u2019s defense ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give details. <\/p>\n

Hours earlier, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital overnight. <\/p>\n

In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month<\/a> \u2014 the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia\u2019s 2022 full-scale invasion<\/a> \u2014 Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.<\/p>\n

\u2018A difficult night\u2019<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Emergency<\/p>\n

Emergency workers navigates his colleagues at the site of residential building damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

Emergency workers navigates his colleagues at the site of residential building damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

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Officials said Russia attacked Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones overnight while Ukrainian forces shot down six missiles and neutralized 245 drones \u2014 128 drones were shot down and 117 were thwarted using electronic warfare.<\/p>\n

The Kyiv City Military Administration said it was one of the biggest combined missile and drone attacks on the capital. <\/p>\n

\u201cA difficult night for all of us,\u201d the administration said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Posting on X, Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it \u201cclear evidence that increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process.\u201d <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the EU\u2019s ambassador to Kyiv described it as \u201chorrific.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A woman carries her dog as she walks on a street with pieces of broken glass at the site of a residential building that was damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

A woman carries her dog as she walks on a street with pieces of broken glass at the site of a residential building that was damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf anyone still doubts Russia wants war to continue \u2014 read the news,\u201d Katarina Mathernov\u00e1 wrote on the social network. <\/p>\n

The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six Kyiv city districts. According to the acting head of the city\u2019s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack and two fires were sparked in Kyiv\u2019s Solomianskyi district.<\/p>\n

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 said. <\/p>\n

Yurii Bondarchuk, a local resident, said the air raid siren \u201cstarted as usual, then the drones started to fly around as they constantly do.\u201d Moments later, he heard a boom and saw shattered glass fly through the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe balcony is totally wiped out, as well as the windows and the doors,\u201d he said as he stood in the dark, smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.<\/p>\n

The air raid alert in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours, warning of incoming missiles and drones.<\/p>\n

Kyiv\u2019s mayor, Vitalii Klitschko, warned residents ahead of the attack that more than 20 Russian strike drones were heading toward the city. As the attack continued, he said drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in Obolon. Emergency services were headed to the site, Klitschko said. <\/p>\n

Separately, 13 civilians were killed on Friday and overnight into Saturday in Russian attacks in Ukraine\u2019s south, east and north, regional authorities said. Three people died after a Russian ballistic missile targeted port infrastructure in Odesa on the Black Sea, local Gov. Oleh Kiper said. <\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

A complex deal<\/p>\n

The prisoner swap on Friday was the first phase of a complicated deal involving the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People take shelter at Kontraktova Ploshcha subway station during a Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Illia Novikov)<\/p>\n

People take shelter at Kontraktova Ploshcha subway station during a Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Illia Novikov)<\/p>\n

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> said the first phase of the deal brought home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend, which will make it the largest swap of the war. Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said it received the same number of people from Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The swap took place at the border with Belarus, in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.<\/p>\n

The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defense Ministry said.<\/p>\n

However, the exchange \u2014 the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians so far \u2014 did not herald a halt in the fighting.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A firefighter works on the site of a residential building damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

A firefighter works on the site of a residential building damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

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Battles continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.<\/p>\n

After the May 16 Istanbul meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a \u201cconfidence-building measure\u201d and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.<\/p>\n

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued.<\/p>\n

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a \u201csustainable, long-term, comprehensive\u201d peace agreement, once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Firefighters<\/p>\n

Firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025 (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

Firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025 (AP Photo\/Alex Babenko)<\/p>\n

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European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army\u2019s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said it had shot down 788 Ukrainian drones away from the battlefield between May 20 and May 23.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners on Saturday as part of a major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[12019,7667,2595,4179,45136,56457,10546,285,19746,332,7659,7661,10243,657,7662,333,2601,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-127977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-ap-top-news","9":"tag-dmitry-peskov","10":"tag-drones","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-hakan-fidan","13":"tag-katarina-mathernov","14":"tag-kyiv","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-prisoner-exchange","17":"tag-russia","18":"tag-russia-government","19":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","20":"tag-sergey-lavrov","21":"tag-ukraine","22":"tag-ukraine-government","23":"tag-vladimir-putin","24":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","25":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114562805665323510","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}