KYIV, Ukraine— Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Saturday, as part of a major swap that was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers, a day after each released a total of 390 combatants and civilians.
The news came hours after Kyiv came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack that left at least 15 people injured, according to local officials. Explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations.
In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month that marked the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. It was a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones overnight, officials said, adding that Ukrainian forces shot down 6 missiles and neutralized 245 drones — 128 drones were shot down and 117 were thwarted using electronic warfare.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said it was one of the biggest combined missile and drone attacks on the capital.
“A difficult night for all of us,” the administration said in a statement. The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six city districts of the Ukrainian capital. According to the acting head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack and two fires were sparked in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv.
