Russia launches new attacks on Ukraine, hours after prisoner swap, 12 killed

Russia launched a second consecutive night of intense air attacks on Ukraine, resulting in at least 12 deaths and dozens of injuries, just hours after concluding prisoner swap.

Ukrainian authorities described the assault as one of the largest aerial bombardments since the war began.

According to Ukraine’s air force, Russian forces fired 298 drones and 69 missiles overnight across much of the country.

The widespread nature of the attack was emphasized in a statement posted on Telegram.

It reported that airstrikes affected 22 regions and that the remains of intercepted cruise missiles and drones landed in 15 different locations.

The Ukrainian Security Service confirmed that four people were killed and 16 others were injured in the capital, Kyiv.

In the Zhytomyr region, Ukraine’s emergency services reported the deaths of three children, aged eight, 12, and 17.

Elsewhere, in the southern city of Mykolaiv, another casualty was reported .

Additionally, four people lost their lives in the Khmelnytskyi region.

Sergiy Tyurin, the deputy head of the region’s military administration, said attacks in that area destroyed civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, described the situation as a “difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night.”

He called it “the most massive Russian air attack in many weeks.”

In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on Telegram that over a dozen enemy drones were observed in the airspace surrounding the capital.

The strikes caused damage to various parts of the city.

These included a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district, a residential building in Shevchenkivskyi district, and a private house in the Dniprovskyi district.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed it too had been targeted.

Its Ministry of Defence stated that it shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that 12 of these drones were intercepted en route to the capital.

The Russian civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, imposed temporary flight restrictions on at least four airports, including Sheremetyevo, the main airport serving Moscow.

These aerial exchanges followed an earlier barrage of attacks the day before.

On Saturday, Ukraine reported that Russia had launched 250 drones and 14 ballistic missiles in a coordinated offensive.

In response, Russia claimed it had been targeted by at least 100 Ukrainian drones.

In addition to the escalating attacks, Russia announced on Sunday that its troops had captured the village of Romanivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

As of now, Ukrainian officials have not confirmed or commented on this claim.

Despite the intensified hostilities, both countries completed a large-scale prisoner of war swap over the weekend.

On Sunday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 303 additional detainees each, concluding a three-day operation that marked the biggest prisoner exchange since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The deal, brokered during direct negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey earlier this month, involved the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side, both soldiers and civilian detainees.

It was also the first time in a long while that representatives from Kyiv and Moscow held in-person discussions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that 307 Ukrainian soldiers were returned on Saturday, following the release of 390 prisoners on Friday.

Russia’s Defence Ministry issued a corresponding statement, confirming that 307 Russian soldiers had also been brought home in Saturday’s exchange.

The prisoner swap provided a rare moment of diplomacy amid an otherwise brutal phase of the war.

However, the continuing and intensifying airstrikes indicate that broader peace negotiations remain distant.

The parallel occurrence of both the prisoner exchange and the devastating attacks underscores the complexity of the ongoing conflict.

On this premise, limited cooperation on humanitarian fronts continues even as violence escalates on the battlefield.

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