In full exchange of prisoners, Russia bombard Kyiv – Liberation
The exchanges continue, the Russian attacks too. The Kyiv capital was targeted by Russian drones and missiles on Saturday to Sunday, the authorities of the Ukrainian capital announced. “The capital and its region again undergo a massive attack by the enemy. Anti -aircraft defense systems are constantly operating in kyiv and its suburbs ”said on Telegram the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. These attacks made at least fifteen injured.
The mayor and the civil and military administration of Kyiv have reported several fires and falls of missile and drones debris on buildings in a large number of districts of the city. « Only additional sanctions targeting key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to stop fire », reacted to X President Zelensky, who added that « The cause of the extension of the war is in Moscow ».
The attack is part of a context of strikes on both sides of the two camps: Friday, two people were killed after Russian strikes on the port of Odessa, west of the country, and three in the Kherson region, to the south. The Russian army, for its part, indicated that Ukraine had targeted Russian territory with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday, 776 of which have been slaughtered.
These attacks arise as Russia and Ukraine have started a record exchange of prisoners which must in total involve « 1,000 per 1,000 » people over three days. This exchange is the only tangible result negotiations between Russians and Ukrainians in Istanbul in mid-May. The first component of the exchange on Friday focused on 270 soldiers and 120 civilians from each camp. The following phases are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
In the Chernihiv region, Where were the Ukrainians released by the Russians, hundreds of people, mainly women, waited by brandishing banners and portraits. Some were crying, cried or acclaiming the buses filled with weight with slimming men with one voice, who greeted them in return through the windows.
Russia gives very little information on the fate of the Ukrainian prisoners and each exchange reserves its share of surprises, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP anonymously. « In almost every exchange, there are people whose nobody knew nothing »he said. « Sometimes they give us people who were on the lists of missing people or who were considered dead. »
« This is the first step in the greatest exchange » Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, underlined the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in his address on Friday evening.
On the Russian side, Moscow announced that it also recovered on Friday 270 soldiers and 120 civilians, including « Residents of the Koursk region captured by the Ukrainian armed forces » During their offensive in the summer of 2024.
The exchange of prisoners and soldiers killed in combat remains one of the last areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, while Russia occupies about 20 % of the Ukrainian territory.
Friday exchange had been announced by President Donald Trump, who said he wanted to bring the two belligerents to negotiate to end as quickly as possible at « Blood bath ». “Congratulations to the two parties for this negotiation. Could that lead to something huge ??? « wrote the President of the United States on his Truth Social network.
Russian diplomacy chief Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow worked on an exhibiting document « The conditions for a sustainable, global and long -term agreement on the regulations » conflict, which will be sent to Ukraine once the exchange of prisoners was finalized. Kyiv must do the same for his own conditions.
Update at 9:44 am With the reaction of Volodymyr Zelensky and the updated assessment
