Ukraine denies postponing prisoner swaps as Russian strike on Kharkiv kills three

Ukraine denied Russian allegations on Saturday that it had indefinitely postponed prisoner swaps, accusing Moscow of “playing dirty games” after overnight Russian missile and bomb strikes on Kharkiv left three people dead and 22 injured.

Separately, Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region wounded two people.

At a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, the two sides agreed to swap more prisoners and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers.

However, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday Kyiv had unexpectedly postponed the exchanges indefinitely.

This was denied by Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, who said Moscow should stop “playing dirty games” and return to constructive work.

“Today’s statements by the Russian side do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements on either the exchange of prisoners or the repatriation of bodies,” he said on the Telegram app.

Overnight, Russian forces used high-precision long-range weapons and drones to attack military targets in Ukraine, hitting all of them, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry.

The northeastern city of Kharkiv, one of Ukraine’s largest, is just a few dozen kilometres (miles) from the Russian border and has been under frequent Russian shelling during more than three years of war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post on Telegram earlier on Saturday.

Residential buildings, educational and infrastructure facilities were attacked, he said, and photos showed buildings burnt and reduced partially to rubble, as rescuers carried the wounded away for treatment.

Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said there could still be people buried under the rubble after one civilian industrial facility was hit by 40 drones and several bombs.
In the Moscow region, two people were injured after a drone attack by Ukraine overnight and on Friday, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram, with nine drones shot down.

Russia’s aviation watchdog said operations had resumed at the Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports in the Moscow region after being suspended temporarily for flight safety reasons.

The Defence Ministry said that since midnight, air defence units had intercepted and destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, including the Moscow region.

Ukraine’s air forces also shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on Saturday morning, its military said without providing further details. Russian forces have not yet commented on the matter while Reuters could not independently verify the report.

A Ukrainian drone attack deep inside Russian territory last weekend likely damaged around 10% of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet and hit some of the aircraft as they were being prepared for strikes on Ukraine, a senior German military official said in a YouTube podcast set for broadcast later on Saturday.