The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least four city districts of the Ukrainian capital early Saturday, May 24, acting head of Kyiv military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on Telegram.
According to Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack, two fires sparked at Solomianskyi district of Kyiv.Read More: After Putin call, Trump says Russia-Ukraine talks to begin ‘immediately’
Prior to the attack, city mayor Vitalii Klitschko warned Kyiv residents of more than 20 Russian strike drones heading towards Kyiv.
As the attack continued, he said drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in Obolon district of Kyiv. Emergency services were headed to the site, Klitschko said.
The prisoners swap on Friday, May 23, was the first phase of a complicated swap involving the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend that will make it the largest swap of the war. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it received the same number from Ukraine.
The swap took place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
As the freed men entered the medical facility on May 23, people holding signs and photos of their relatives shouted names or brigade numbers, seeking any news of a loved one. The returning men inspected the photos, and a serviceman said he shared a cell with one of those on the sea of portraits held out toward him.
Read More: Trump says major prisoner swap completed between Russia-Ukraine – CNBC TV18
“Vanya!” cried Nataliia Mosych, among the gathered relatives, “My husband!” The exchange, which would be the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians at one time, didn’t herald any halt in fighting.
Battles continued along the roughly 1,000-km front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had called the prisoner swap a “confidence-building measure.” But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 23 that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on said on the night of May 23 that Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a “sustainable, long-term, comprehensive” peace agreement once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.
European leaders have 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.
The Istanbul meeting revealed that both sides remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement.
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