KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.
Just hours earlier, came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since in February 2022.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday 鈥 the biggest swap of the war.
Ukrainian President confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that 鈥303 Ukrainian defenders are home.” He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 鈥淎rmed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.鈥
In 鈥 the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since 鈥 Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.
The largest aerial attack of the war
The scale of onslaught was stunning 鈥 Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force.
In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.
For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century,
Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages and 鈥 a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia.
鈥淭hese were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday鈥檚 targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.
鈥淲ithout truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help,鈥 Zelenskyy said. 鈥淒etermination matters now 鈥 the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace.鈥
The prisoner swap was the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire and a between the warring sides.
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said emanwhile that its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Another ‘sleepless night’
Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.
鈥淎 difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,鈥 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault 鈥渓asted all night.鈥
Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.
In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building鈥檚 walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.
The scale of Russia’s use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.
A village engulfed in smoke and rubble
In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.
鈥淭he street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it鈥檚 just terrible,鈥 says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine’s most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and the grandchildren hadn’t joined them for the weekend.
鈥淚 was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us,” Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, 鈥淎fter all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it鈥檚 the ground floor.’鈥
“She said, 鈥楴o, mum, I鈥檓 not coming.鈥 And thank God she didn鈥檛 come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children鈥檚 rooms were,鈥 Fedorenko said.
Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. 鈥淭hey burned to death,鈥 he said. “I want to bury them, but I鈥檓 not allowed yet.鈥
Despite POW swaps, no letup in the war
The POW exchange was the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.
Still, it has not halted the fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.
Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the 鈥淣orth鈥 group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in .
鈥淭he troops continue to advance forward every day,鈥 Yakimkin said, adding that Russians forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraine鈥檚 northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.
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Yeroshenko reported from Markhalivka, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Elise Morton in London contributed to this report.
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