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A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday.
The attack came on the third day of a planned prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month which have so far failed to produce a ceasefire.
The exchange has been a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides.
Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense forces persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles.
At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital, according to Ukraine’s security service.
Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.
In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17, according to the emergency service.
Twelve were injured in the attacks, the service said.
Deaths were also reported in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building’s walls was on fire.
In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.
The attacks over the past 48 hours were among the most intense Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 full-scale invasion.
The last in a three-day prisoner swap was expected to take place later on Sunday.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers the previous day, on Saturday, a day after each side released a total of 390 combatants and civilians.
Once completed, the swap will amount to the largest exchange of prisoners in more than three years of war.
“We expect more to come tomorrow,” Zelensky said on his official Telegram channel on Saturday.
Russia’s defense ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give details.
The previous night, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital.
In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.
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