Russia launches deadly aerial assault on Ukrainian capital amid major prisoner swap
Russia launched a deadly aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv using missiles and drones for a second night in a row, as the two sides carried out an exchange of hundreds of prisoners of war.
Three people were killed in attacks on the Ukrainian capital region overnight into Sunday, the Kyiv regional military administration said, a day after officials reported at least 13 dead across Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks.
Authorities said 21 people were also injured across the capital city and greater capital region, including two children.
Air raid sirens blared for hours in the capital and residents were warned to stay in shelters in the early hours of Sunday as officials said attack drones continued to bear down on the capital. Civilian buildings in multiple districts were damaged as Russia mounted an attack using drones and rockets, authorities said.
Kyiv was under another “massive” attack, mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post early Sunday.
The onslaught on the capital comes as international pressure mounts on Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire proposal and end his more than three-year war.
Kyiv and Moscow earlier this month held their first direct talks since soon after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Those talks instead ended with an agreement for the exchange of prisoners, which began Friday and is expected to last three days.
Since the start of that exchange, Russian attacks have targeted regions across Ukraine, with the “main focus” being on the capital Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
Firefighters try to put out a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv on Sunday.
Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP
People take shelter inside a metro station in Kyiv on Sunday.
Alina Smutko/Reuters
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences to families and loved ones of the injured. “It was a difficult night for all of Ukraine,” he said.
At least 18 other people were injured in Kyiv in attacks overnight into Saturday, according to police.
Ukrainian parliament member Kira Rudik told CNN Saturday she spent the night hiding “under the stairs” in Kyiv during the overnight bombardment. “It was terrifying, it felt honestly like Armageddon, the explosions were everywhere,” she said.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Sunday a combined attack of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles launched from the ships and planes were targeting multiple Ukrainian cities as attacks continued ahead of what was expected to be the third day of the exchange.
Prisoner swap
Over 600 Russian and Ukrainian servicemen were released Saturday as part of the second phase of the agreed prisoner exchange.
Videos released by the Ukrainian Coordination Center for Treatment of Prisoners of War showed the hundreds of released men, most with shaved heads and draped in Ukrainian flags, hugging each other and calling their loved ones on the phone.
Almost 800 people were released on Friday during the first phase of the swap.
The agreement to release 1,000 prisoners on each side was the only significant outcome of the meeting between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul last week.
Olena, a Ukrainian woman whose husband Yuriy spent six months in Russian captivity, finally reunited with him on Saturday after he was released in the prisoner swap. A video posted by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense shows her running to find her husband and hugging him tightly once she does.
“This is the best day. I was running, looking for him, screaming. I am very grateful,” Olena said in the video. The day before she reunited with Yuriy, she had asked several of the released Ukrainian prisoners of war if any of them recognized her husband, but none of them were able to, leaving her very distressed.
A Ukrainian man embraces his wife after returning home on May 23 following the prisoner exchange.
Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Saturday said: “One week has passed since the Istanbul meeting, and Russia has yet to send its ‘peace memorandum.’ Instead, Russia sends deadly drones and missiles at civilians.”
Meanwhile, Russia said that it also was attacked by Ukrainian drones.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday said it intercepted or destroyed around 100 attack drones, Reuters reported. Most of those destroyed were over Russia’s central and southern regions, with two near Moscow, the ministry said.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin later said on Telegram that the number of drones destroyed or intercepted near the capital had risen to 11, according to Reuters.
The defense ministry a day earlier claimed it had destroyed 94 Ukrainian UAVs over Russian territory, mostly over the Belgorod and Bryansk regions. Some UAVs were also shot down over the Kursk, Lipetsk, Voronezh and Tula regions too, it added.
The governor of the Tula region, Dmitry Miliaev, said Saturday three people were injured, including two who were hospitalized.
The Istanbul meeting was initially proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to a ceasefire-or-sanctions ultimatum given to Moscow by Kyiv’s European allies – which many saw as a clear attempt by the Kremlin leader to distract and delay.
Ukraine and its allies demanded that Russia agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Istanbul, but there was no major breakthrough.
This story has been updated.
CNN’s Ivana Kottasová, Kathleen Magramo, and Eve Brennan contributed to this report.
Source: CNN