Russian Strike Kills 24 In Kyiv As Russia And Ukraine Swap 205 POWs Each

Kyiv mourned on Friday after a Russian attack killed 24 people the day before, as President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Moscow’s “brutal terror” and the two sides went ahead with an exchange of hundreds of captured soldiers.

Zelensky visited the site of the building ripped apart by a Russian missile, where he said, “Here, Russia took the lives of 24 people, including three children,” and the three children killed were girls aged 12, 15 and 17.

Agenpress

In the Russian city of Ryazan, retaliatory overnight strikes by Kyiv’s army launched as bodies were still being pulled from the rubble in Kyiv killed four, including a child, Russian officials said.

The exchange freed 205 Ukrainian soldiers in the latest PoW exchange with Moscow, while Kyiv freed the same number of Russian soldiers, and Moscow said its 205 released troops were brought to its ally Belarus for “psychological and medical assistance.”

Zelensky said the release was the “first stage of the 1,000 for 1,000 exchange” that had been brokered and previously announced by US President Donald Trump, and he posted pictures of released Ukrainians wrapped in national blue-and-yellow flags as they smiled and embraced each other.

Euronews reported that Zelenskyy said on Telegram that “This is the first phase of the 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange,” and it said the Russian defence ministry confirmed the swap by stating that “205 Russian servicemen were returned.”

Bangkok Post

The BBC described the Kyiv strike as killing 24 people, including three girls, and said the swap went ahead hours after rescue workers ended their search of a destroyed block of flats.

In Ryazan, the BBC said Russian officials reported four people, including a child, were killed when Ukrainian drones hit the city, while it also reported that 28 people were hurt in the attack.

The exchange unfolded as Kyiv’s allies accused Russia of mocking diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, with Moscow demanding Kyiv give up four eastern and southern regions that Russia claimed in 2022 to have annexed.

Euronews said the POW exchanges remained the only tangible result of US-led talks to put an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine as diplomatic efforts had been stalled for weeks, and it linked the swap to Trump’s announcement of a three-day US-brokered ceasefire.

The BBC said the swap was part of a short-lived ceasefire ending this week with the launch of massive Russian strikes across Ukraine, and it reported that the truce was quickly forgotten when Russian forces launched their biggest drone onslaught since the start of the war.

In Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said Russia targeted Ukraine with 675 drones and 56 missiles during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, and the BBC reported that Zelensky said the Russian missile had been produced in recent weeks, adding that Russia was still importing components needed for missile production in circumvention of global sanctions.