Latest news with #POWswap
Arab News
7 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Zelensky says Ukraine halted Russian troop advance in Sumy region
KYIV: Ukrainian forces have stopped Russian troops advancing in the northeastern Sumy region and are now battling to regain control along the border with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. In remarks released for publication by his office on Saturday, Zelensky said that Moscow has amassed about 53,000 troops in the direction of Sumy. 'We are leveling the position. The fighting there is along the border. You should understand that the enemy has been stopped there. And the maximum depth at which the fighting takes place is 7 km from the border,' Zelensky said. Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia conducted another POW swap — the fourth one in a week — the warring sides said on Saturday, under agreements reached in Istanbul earlier this month. 'We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week,' President Zelensky wrote on social media. 'In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements ... another group of Russian servicemen was returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,' Russia's Defense Ministry said on Telegram. Kyiv also said it had received another batch of 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia, which it said Russia claimed 'belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel,' as part of the Istanbul agreements as well. Ukraine did not say whether it returned any bodies to Russia. Some were injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged those welcoming them, or were seen calling someone by phone, sometimes covering their faces or smiling. Moscow's Defense Ministry released its own video showing men in uniforms holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting 'Russia, Russia,' 'glory to Russia' and 'hooray,' some raising their fists in the air.
CNA
7 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
Ukraine and Russia conduct another POW swap
KYIV: Ukraine and Russia conducted another POW swap - the fourth one in a week - the warring sides said on Saturday (Jun 14), under agreements reached in Istanbul earlier this month. "We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media. "In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements ... another group of Russian servicemen was returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime," Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram. Kyiv also said it had received another batch of 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia, which it said Russia claimed "belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel," as part of the Istanbul agreements as well. Photos published by Zelenskyy on Telegram showed men of various ages, mostly with shaved heads, wearing camouflage and draped in Ukrainian flags. Some were injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged those welcoming them, or were seen calling someone by phone, sometimes covering their faces or smiling. Moscow's defence ministry released its own video showing men in uniforms holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting "Russia, Russia", "glory to Russia" and "hooray", some raising their fists in the air. The exchange came as Russia repeatedly rejected ceasefire calls and intensified its offensive along the front line, and especially in the northeastern Sumy region, where it seeks to establish a "buffer zone" to protect its Kursk region, previously partly occupied by Ukraine. Zelenskyy claimed Russia's advance on Sumy was stopped, adding that Kyiv's forces have managed to retake one village.
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Ukraine and Russia conduct another POW swap
Ukraine and Russia conducted another POW swap -- the fourth one in a week -- the warring sides said on Saturday, under agreements reached in Istanbul earlier this month. "We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media. "In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements... another group of Russian servicemen was returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime," Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram. Kyiv also said it had received another batch of 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia, which it said Russia claimed "belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel," as part of the Istanbul agreements as well. Ukraine did not say whether it returned any bodies to Russia. Photos published by Zelensky on Telegram showed men of various ages, mostly with shaved heads, wearing camouflage and draped in Ukrainian flags. Some were injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged those welcoming them, or were seen calling someone by phone, sometimes covering their faces or smiling. Moscow's defence ministry released its own video showing men in uniforms holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting "Russia, Russia", "glory to Russia" and "hooray", some raising their fists in the air. The exchange came as Russia repeatedly rejected ceasefire calls and intensified its offensive along the front line, and especially in the northeastern Sumy region, where it seeks to establish a "buffer zone" to protect its Kursk region, previously partly occupied by Ukraine. Zelensky claimed Russia's advance on Sumy was stopped, adding that Kyiv's forces have managed to retake one village. According to the Ukrainian president, Russia was using 53,000 men in the Sumy operation.
National Post
12-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Russia's military losses top 1 million in 3-year-old war, Ukraine's military says
Article content Ukraine responded to the Russian attacks with drone raids. Russia's Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 52 Ukrainian drones early Thursday, including 41 over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were injured by Ukrainian attacks. Article content The recent escalation in aerial attacks has come alongside a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and northeastern parts of the more than 1,000-kilometer (over 600-mile) front line. Article content While Russian missile and drone barrage have struck regions all across Ukraine, regions along the front line have faced daily Russian attacks with short-range exploding drones and glide bombs. Article content Article content On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed its troops captured two more villages in the Donetsk region, Oleksiivka and Petrivske. The Ukrainian military had no immediate comment on the Russian claim. Article content The attacks have continued despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the war. During their June 2 talks in Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators traded memorandums containing sharply divergent conditions that both sides see as nonstarters, making a quick deal unlikely. Article content The only tangible outcome of the talks was an agreement to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers. Article content Russia and Ukraine conducted another POW swap on Thursday that included severely wounded and gravely ill captives, although the sides did not report the numbers. Article content 'Our people are coming home,' Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram. 'All of them require medical treatment, and they will receive the necessary help. This is already the second stage of returning those who are severely wounded and seriously ill.' Article content According to Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, some of the repatriated soldiers had been listed as missing in action. The oldest among them is 59, the youngest is 22, he said. Article content At the same time, Rutte criticized Putin for appointing his aide Vladimir Medinsky as the top negotiator for the talks in Istanbul. Medinsky ascended through the Kremlin ranks after writing a series of books exposing purported Western plots against Russia and denigrating Ukraine. Article content 'I think that the Russians sending this historian now twice to these talks in Istanbul, trying to start with the history of 1,000 years ago and then explaining more or less that Ukraine is at fault here, I think that's not helpful,' Rutte said. 'But at least step by step, we try to make progress.' Article content Article content Also on Thursday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit, noting the stepped-up Russian attacks send a message from Moscow that it has 'no interest in a peaceful solution at present,' according to German news agency dpa. Article content Pistorius said his visit underlines that the new German government continues to stand by Ukraine. Article content 'Of course this will also be about how the support of Germany and other Europeans will look in future — what we can do, for example, in the area of industrial cooperation, but also other support,' he said. Article content
Russia Today
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia and Ukraine exchange more POWs (VIDEO)
Moscow and Kiev exchanged a third group of POWs on Thursday under a major prisoner swap agreed to in Istanbul earlier this month, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. The freed soldiers are currently in Belarus and will be transferred to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation, the ministry said in a statement. A group of Ukrainian POWs has also been handed over to Kiev, the military added, without specifying the number of exchanged soldiers. The Defense Ministry released a video showing the freed servicemen phoning their relatives and waving Russian flags before boarding a bus at an undisclosed location. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
