Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war as well as the bodies of fallen soldiers, on Friday (15 May). The swap came as Ukranian officials said Moscow had carried out its largest aerial attack over 48 hours since the conflict started.
Russia handed more than 526 bodies of soldiers to Ukraine and received 41, Russian state news agency RIA reported. The two countries also swapped 205 prisoners of war each, the news agency said.
Ukranian officials said Moscow's extensive aerial attack over the last two-days had involved strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones.
The Kremlin said earlier this month that it had agreed to carry out a prisoner exchange with Kyiv as part of a three-day ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Since Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched 1,567 drones. Officials reported at least 15 civilian deaths over the two days.
According to the Ukrainian air force, more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles were fired overnight alone. Air defence units reportedly intercepted 41 missiles and 652 drones.
Zelenskyy said the scale of the assault showed it was “definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end”, urging Ukraine’s partners not to stay silent and to continue strengthening air defences.
Kyiv was the primary target of the overnight strikes, with Zelenskyy saying damage was recorded at around 20 locations across the capital and surrounding region.
At least nine people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in the capital, while six others died in a daytime strike in western Ukraine the previous day, officials said.
About 40 people, including two children, were injured, officials said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared a day of mourning for Friday (15 May).
Emergency crews worked through the night at the site of a destroyed nine-storey residential building, where an entire section collapsed after a drone strike. Nearly 20 people were still reported missing as rescue operations continued.
Authorities said more than 1,500 rescue workers had been deployed nationwide, including around 600 in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy stated that approximately 180 facilities had been damaged across Ukraine, including more than 50 residential buildings.
He also reported that a vehicle belonging to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs came under fire during a mission in the southern city of Kherson.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, 28 people, including three children, were injured as civilian infrastructure was hit.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said power outages had been recorded in 11 regions. Port facilities in Odesa and sections of the railway network were also targeted, officials added.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the timing of the attack, coinciding with U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China, demonstrated that Russia intended to continue the war despite diplomatic efforts.
He said global powers, including the United States and China, had sufficient influence to pressure Moscow to end the conflict.
British Defence Secretary John Healey said on social media that he had instructed officials to accelerate the delivery of air defence assistance to Ukraine “as fast as possible”.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people in the central Russian city of Ryazan, damaged high-rise apartment buildings and hit an industrial enterprise, Regional Governor Pavel Malkov said early on Friday.
"To our great regret, three people have been killed and 12 injured, including children," Malkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Malkov said the drones damaged two high-rise apartment blocks. He said debris from falling drones also fell on the territory of an industrial site, which he did not identify.
The unofficial Telegram site Mash showed pictures of smoke rising from a high-rise building and said one of the entrances to the building was blocked, preventing residents from leaving.
Other unofficial sites showed several apartments ablaze.
Ryazan, located some 200 km (120 miles) southeast of Moscow, is the site of a large oil refinery.
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