The exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia proceeded as scheduled on Friday, even as a Russian missile strike on a block of flats in the Ukrainian capital killed at least 24 people. The attack, which hit a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv, also wounded dozens more. Emergency services worked through the night to pull survivors and bodies from the rubble.
The prisoner swap, involving 95 Ukrainian soldiers and an equal number of Russian troops, was the first such exchange in weeks. It took place near the border in the Sumy region. The strikes, rescuers say, were a grim reminder of the war's human cost as negotiations over a broader ceasefire remain deadlocked.
The dead include two children. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as a deliberate act of terror. The Kremlin has not commented on the strike.
Meanwhile, international mediators continue their efforts to secure a lasting peace, but events on the ground suggest a long and bloody struggle ahead. The prisoner swap, while welcome, does little to ease the pain of those who lost loved ones in the rubble of Kyiv.
