Moscow and Kyiv engaged in a significant prisoner exchange on Sunday, marking a rare instance of cooperation amid ongoing hostilities.
The Russian defense ministry confirmed the swap, the third such exchange in a series that began on Friday. This latest exchange saw 303 soldiers returned to each side, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday.
The combined exchanges represent the largest prisoner swap in over three years of conflict.
The announcement came hours after a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday.
The scale of the onslaught was stunning — Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making this the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force.
In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.
It was “the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022,” Ihnat said.
For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century,
‘Deliberate strikes on ordinary cities’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia.
That has been a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that — despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe — have not materialized in ways to deter Russia.
“These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday’s targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.
“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help,” Zelenskyy said. “Determination matters now — the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace.”
Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed its troops have taken control of the village of Romanivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Sunday.
