War in Ukraine: Russia and Ukraine exchange another 307 prisoners

Russia and Ukraine have continued their greatest exchange of prisoners of war to date and released another 307 people. The agreed 1,000 prisoners have now been released. “The large -scale exchange initiated by the Russian side continues,” said the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj said that further release would be expected this Sunday.

On Friday, 390 prisoners had already come in freedom. According to Selenskyj, the released soldiers were members of the Ukrainian armed forces, the border troops and the national guard. Selenskyjs Chancellor Andrij Jermak announced at Telegram: “They all kept our country, have lived through captivity, but did not broke.” There are also drone pilots among the returnees.

In photos and videos, the released people with faces could be seen with joy. Many of them appear emaciated and have bald heads, the men who wore Ukrainian flags as accessible, hugged themselves and their women, some were shown on calls with their relatives. Many broke out of happiness and relief in tears when they heard the familiar voices. According to Jermak, some have been in Russian captivity since 2022.

Exchange in several stages

The released Russians should also return to their families. The soldiers are currently still in Belarus, where they received psychological and medical help, the Ministry of Defense said in Moscow. “All Russian military members are brought to the Russian Federation for treatment and rehabilitation,” it said.

Since the beginning of the war a good three years ago, there have always been prisoner exchanges. “There is no greater joy,” wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha on the platform X after the round on Friday. “Such humanitarian confidence -building measures are crucial for our continuous work to restore peace.”

The exchange was agreed last week during talks in Istanbul. He remained the only concrete result of the first direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations since 2022, to which US President Donald Trump had been urged. Further peace negotiations were also agreed, for which neither the date nor the location are certain.

War continues – many injuries in Kyiv

Accordingly, the Russian war of attack continues unabated. In the event of a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian capital Kiev and its surroundings, at least 15 people were injured at night. Houses were hit by falling rubble of shot drones, the authorities said. “There were many fire and explosions in the city at night,” said President Selenskyj. For the entire Ukraine, it was a difficult night with 250 drone attacks and air strikes with 14 ballistic rockets.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that several military goals in Ukraine were shot at. Previously, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow had announced retaliation strokes in response to “massive terrorist attacks” Kiev. In the past few days, Ukraine had shot at Moscow and other regions of the neighboring country as part of its resistance in the Russian attack war.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported more than 100 Ukrainian drone attacks in various regions of the country in the morning. According to media reports, a Russian armaments company was also the goal of the attacks.

Ukraine demands more pressure on Russia

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha criticized X that Russia had still not sent the “Peace Memorandum” promised after the first direct negotiations in Istanbul. “Instead, Russia sends fatal drones and rockets to the civilian population,” said the minister. He called for an increased sanction pressure on Moscow.

Russia announced that after the conclusion of the prisoner exchange in the next few days of Ukraine, the announced declaration of intent to solve the conflict. Working on the memorandum is in the final phase, said the Vice-Chief of the Russian Federation Council, Konstantin Kossatschev, the military TV broadcaster “Swesda”. The document becomes a basis for the very difficult negotiation process.