KYIV: A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday.
The attack came on the third day of a planned prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire. The exchange amounted to a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense forces persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to Ukraine's security service.
“A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on the social media platform X.
He said Russia had launched “hundreds” of drones and missiles.
Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.
In the region of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17, according to the emergency service. Twelve were injured in the attacks, the service 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’s walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.
The attacks over the past 48 hours were among the most intense Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 full-scale invasion. The last in a three-day prisoner swap was expected to take place later on Sunday.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers the previous day, on Saturday, a day after each side released a total of 390 combatants and civilians. Once completed, the swap will amount to the largest exchange of prisoners in more than three years of war.
“We expect more to come tomorrow,” Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel on Saturday. Russia’s defense ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give details.
The previous night, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital.
In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.
'Crazy feelings'
The renewed attacks follow Ukraine's air force on Saturday morning saying Russia had launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight, which officials said left 15 wounded.
The Russian military said Saturday that Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday.
Dozens of drones targeting Moscow have been shot down over the past week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia's attacks indicated Moscow was "prolonging the war" and repeated his call for ramped-up sanctions.
But he also said he expected officials to press on with a prisoner swap agreed during talks last week in Istanbul.
On Saturday, 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow.
Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total.
Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the exchange, without saying what those terms would be.
The two enemies have held regular prisoner swaps, but none has been on this scale.
An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds waiting outside.
"It's simply crazy. Crazy feelings," 31-year-old Konstantin Steblev, a soldier, told AFP after he was released following three years in captivity.
Diplomatic push
US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap.
"This could lead to something big???" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump's efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.
One of the soldiers formerly held captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP it was hard to express his emotional homecoming.
Captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he had been held for 37 months and 12 days.
"It's impossible to describe. I can't put it into words. It's very joyful," he said.
After more than three years of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries.
Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000.
Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up in recent weeks, but the Kremlin has shown no sign it has walked back its maximalist demands for ending the fighting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has defied European pressure for a full and unconditional truce in Ukraine, pressing on with its offensive, which has left tens of thousands dead.
(With inputs from AFP and Associated Press)
