Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner swap Sunday, just hours after Moscow launched one of the largest aerial assaults on Ukraine in the war. This exchange, the third and final phase of a major prisoner swap, involved over 300 soldiers, marking a rare moment of cooperation between the two sides. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, stating that 303 Ukrainian defenders had been returned home. The prisoner swap came amid an intensifying conflict, with Russia launching a massive drone-and-missile attack on Kyiv and other regions. The attack killed at least 12 people, including three children, and injured dozens more, prompting Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko to report that air defense forces were actively countering the drones.
The prisoner exchange followed a prior agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul, where Kyiv and Moscow had resolved to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange, while symbolic, was noted as the only tangible outcome of the peace talks. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its air defenses had shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. The latest aerial assault was launched just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump had criticized Russia’s actions, accusing Putin of ‘killing a lot of people’ in the attack. Trump also lamented the lack of progress in peace talks and blamed both sides for the war, claiming that it would have been avoided if he had been in the presidency. The U.S. president also took aim at Zelenskyy, accusing him of making statements that were ‘causing problems’ and calling for an end to his rhetoric as it ‘better stop.’