The 2 international locations swap a whole bunch of troopers and civilians as Russia launches extra drone assaults on Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged extra prisoners of battle as Ukrainian officers renew their requires extra sanctions in response to dozens of assault drones and ballistic missiles launched by Moscow’s forces at Kyiv in a single day.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated on Saturday it launched 307 Ukrainian prisoners of battle in trade for as many Russian servicemen, who’re being cared for in Belarus earlier than their return to Russia.
Ukraine confirmed the trade, saying amongst these returned have been military troopers, brokers of the State Border Guard Service, and members of the Nationwide Guard of Ukraine.
The 2 sides every launched 270 servicemen and 120 civilians on the Ukrainian border with Belarus on Friday, as a part of the most important prisoner trade for the reason that begin of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Either side have agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners, however the aerial assaults and floor combating haven’t stopped.
Ukraine’s navy on Saturday stated in a single day assaults launched from a number of Russian areas used 250 drones and 14 ballistic missiles to hit Kyiv and different areas, damaging a number of condominium buildings and a shopping center, and injuring a minimum of 15 folks within the capital.
Websites within the Ukrainian areas of Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Zaporizhia have been additionally hit, with Ukrainian forces saying six of the ballistic missiles have been shot down by its air defences, together with 245 drones, a lot of which have been stated to be Iranian-designed.
Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv’s regional state administration, stated on Saturday morning that 4 Ukrainians have been killed and a number of other others injured over the previous 24 hours within the area because of a number of Russian assaults.
In the meantime, Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated a minimum of 100 Ukrainian drones tried to strike Russian targets in a single day. It stated 64 unmanned aerial autos have been downed in a single day within the skies of the Belgorod area, together with 10 extra drones launched on Saturday morning.
Dozens extra projectiles have been downed over Kursk, Lipetsk and Voronezh and one other 5 have been shot down over Tver northwest of Moscow, it stated.
‘Troublesome night time’
In a social media submit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the nation had one other “troublesome night time” that he believes ought to persuade the world that “the explanation for the battle being dragged out is in Moscow”.
“It’s apparent that we have to put rather more strain on Russia to get outcomes and begin actual diplomacy. We’re ready for sanctions from the US, Europe and all our companions. Solely extra sanctions towards key sectors of the Russian economic system will pressure Moscow to conform to a ceasefire.”
The Group of Seven (G7) nations threatened on Friday to impose additional sanctions on Russia if it fails to conform to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Ukrainian Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha stated every week after talks in Turkiye’s capital Istanbul led solely to an settlement on the trade of prisoners of battle, that Moscow has but to ship any “peace memorandum”.
“As a substitute, Russia sends lethal drones and missiles at civilians,” he wrote in a submit on X, including that “elevated sanctions strain on Moscow is important to speed up the peace course of.”
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s John Hendren stated the Istanbul assembly was disappointing for Zelenskyy as a result of he wished a face-to-face assembly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“As a substitute, it was a a lot lower-level assembly. However they did handle to get this prisoner swap,” he stated, including that the exchanges might be over by Sunday however the particulars weren’t clear.
“Zelenskyy has been upset by the dearth of extra US sanctions towards Russia. Europe has agreed to new sanctions, however it’s not clear that they may actually have the specified impact to carry Vladimir Putin to the negotiating desk.”
