Ukraine’s capital came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack overnight and into early Saturday that left at least 15 people injured, according to Ukrainian officials.
The assault came amid a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv. Russia and Ukraine on Saturday completed a significant prisoner exchange of hundreds of soldiers and civilians after Friday’s first stage of the deal was reached following talks last week in Istanbul.
Explosions and machine gunfire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations.
Yurii Bondarchuk, a resident, said the air raid siren “started as usual, then the drones started to fly around as they constantly do.”
Moments later, he heard a boom and saw shattered glass fly through the air.
“The balcony is totally wiped out, as well as the windows and the doors,” he said, describing the damage to his apartment as he stood in the dark of the night, smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves. At the same time, firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitalii Klitschko, warned residents ahead of the attack that more than 20 Russian strike drones were heading toward the city.
As the attack continued, Klitschko said drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in the Obolon district of Kyiv. Emergency services were headed to the site, he added.
‘A difficult night,’ city officials said
The Kyiv City Military Administration said it was one of the largest combined missile and drone attacks on the capital.
Russia launched Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones overnight, it said.
“A difficult night for all of us,” the administration said, adding that Ukrainian forces shot down 6 missiles and neutralised 245 drones—128 drones were shot down and 117 were thwarted using electronic warfare.
At least six metropolitan neighbourhoods in the Ukrainian capital were hit by the debris of drones and intercepted missiles.
Tymur Tkachenko, the acting director of Kyiv’s military administration, reported that two fires were started in the city’s Solomianskyi area and that six people needed medical attention following the attack.
The Obolon district, where a residential building was heavily damaged in the attack, was the hardest hit. There were at least five wounded in the area, the administration said.
The air raid alert in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours, warning of incoming missiles and drones.
Attack comes amid prisoner exchange
The assault came amid a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv. On Friday, Russia and Ukraine completed a significant prisoner exchange of hundreds of soldiers and civilians, the first stage of a deal reached during talks last week in Istanbul.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Ukraine had achieved the release of 307 Ukrainians from Russian imprisonment in the second round of its largest prisoner swap with Russia, a claim confirmed by Russia.
The deal was a unique instance of collaboration in otherwise fruitless attempts to end the over three-year war. The sole concrete outcome of the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, which took place in Istanbul on May 16 for the first time since 2022, was reportedly an agreement on a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap.
Earlier on Friday, President Zelenskyy said the first phase of the deal brought home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases this weekend, which will make it the largest swap of the war.
Russia’s Defence Ministry have said it received the same number of people from Ukraine. On Saturday, Russia said an additional 307 Russian prisoners of war (POWs) have been returned from Ukraine and are en route to Belarus.
Russia is playing for time – EU leaders
Earlier this week, European leaders accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.
On Tuesday, the EU agreed to what it called a 17th package of sanctions on Russia that “cuts off Russia’s access to key military technology and curbs Russia’s energy revenues.”
Brussels described the new sanctions as the most wide sweeping since the start of the war.
They also come despite the meeting of Ukrainian and Russian officials in Istanbul, whose outcome has so far shown that the two sides were still at odds over important terms for putting an end to the fighting.
A temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful resolution is one such requirement for Ukraine, supported by its Western allies.
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