Dozens of Soldiers Released in Exchange of Prisoners in Russia-Ukraine

Kyiv: Dozens of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war have been returned home following a prisoner exchange, officials on both sides said on Saturday.

Top Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said in a Telegram post that 116 Ukrainians had been freed. He said the released prisoners of war included soldiers who had been in Mariupol during the months-long siege of Moscow that left the southern port city in ruins, as well as guerrilla fighters from the Kherson region and those fighting for the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, Russian defense officials announced that 63 Russian servicemen had returned from Ukraine following an exchange, including some special category prisoners whose release was secured after mediation by the United Arab Emirates. A statement issued Saturday by the Russian Defense Ministry did not provide details about these special category captives.

At least three civilians have been killed in Ukraine over the past 24 hours as Russian forces struck nine regions in the country’s south, north, and east, according to reports on Ukrainian TV by regional governors on Saturday morning. Two people were killed, and 14 others wounded in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region by Russian shelling and missile strikes, local Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Telegram update on Saturday morning.

The casualty toll included a man who was killed and seven others who were wounded Friday after Russian missiles slammed into Toretsk, a town in the Donetsk region. Kyrylenko said that 34 houses, two kindergartens, an outpatient clinic, a library, a cultural center, and other buildings were damaged in the strike. Seven teenagers received shrapnel wounds after anti-personnel mine exploded late on Friday in the northeastern city of Izium, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. He said they were all hospitalized but their lives were not in danger.

Elsewhere, regional Ukrainian officials reported overnight shelling by Russia of border settlements in the northern Sumy region, as well as the town of Marhanets, which neighbors the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Kyiv has long accused Moscow of using the plant, which Russian forces seized early in the war, as a base for launching attacks on Ukrainian-held territory across the Dnieper River.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa and surrounding areas were plunged into the dark following a large-scale network failure, the country’s grid operator reported. Ukrainergo said in a Telegram update that Russia’s barbaric attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid included the failure of repeatedly repaired equipment and that residents should prepare themselves for prolonged blackouts.

“Unfortunately, the scale of the accident is quite significant, and this time, the power supply restrictions will be longer. It is not yet possible to determine a specific time when (power) will be fully restored,” the company said.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the energy ministry was sending “all the power generators it has in stock” to Odesa “within 24 hours” and that both the Ukrainian energy minister and the head of Ukrenergo were on their way to Odesa to oversee repair works.