Ukraine and Russia have completed a “1,000 for 1,000” prisoner exchange after three days of exchanges.
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that the final 303 Ukrainian captives scheduled to be released had been returned from Russia in the final stage of the largest-ever such swap between the warring countries.
Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram app, “Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service are returning home.”
He wrote on X, “I thank the team that worked around the clock to successfully carry out this exchange.” adding, “We will definitely bring back every single one of our people from Russian captivity.”
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that those released included 70 men who had been involved in the defence of Mariupol during the Russian siege in 2022.
Russia also confirmed that the final exchange had been completed, saying on Sunday that it had exchanged 303 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of Russian soldiers held by Kyiv.
“In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached in Istanbul on May 16, the Russian and Ukrainian sides have (over the weekend) carried out the exchange of 1,000 people for 1,000 people.”
Russia’s defence ministry
While some had initially hoped that the exchange, which began on Friday, could open the way to at least a temporary ceasefire, two consecutive days of massive Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, which on Sunday killed 12 people and injured scores more, have undermined that prospect.
Prisoner Exchange Amid Heavy Russian Airstrikes On Ukrainian Cities
Russia launched the largest air raid in three years of the war against Ukraine in a second straight night of massive drone and ballistic missile strikes in which the capital city, Kyiv, was once again the focus of heavy attack.
Across the country at least 12 people were killed, according to officials, including three children in the Kyiv region, and dozens more injured, as officials released the first assessment of casualties and damage on Sunday morning.
Ukrainian officials later confirmed that Russia had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in multiple waves. Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences had shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the US to speak out against the Russian attacks.
“The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin. Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The huge scale of the latest attack, and its civilian victims, prompted the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to call for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war.”
Kallas said on X that the attacks again show that Russia is bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. “Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed,” she added.
Russian strikes hit locations across Ukraine on Saturday night into Sunday, from the southern coast and east to the west.
Four people were reported dead in the western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region, and one in Mykolaiv in the south.
The intensity and frequency of this weekend’s strikes contrasted sharply with Donald Trump’s claim that Vladimir Putin was interested in peace.
The US President, who has been talking up his peace efforts, has not yet commented on the weekend’s heavy strikes.
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