Kyiv beaten by Major Russian Air Cup after swapping

The capital of Ukraine was targeted by a Russian drone and rocket fire overnight, hours after the warring sides began a large prisoner exchange that would continue this weekend. Explosions were heard all over the city and debris of intercept projectiles fell into different districts, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at Telegram. Social media posts showed several smoke points above the city and damaged high apartment buildings. The head of Kyiv’s Military Administration calls the air strike the ‘most massive’ facing the capital so far in the war, which is until the fourth year. At least 15 people were injured in Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said at X. “This is Russia’s response to international peace efforts and clear evidence that increased sanctions on Moscow are needed to accelerate the peace process,” Sybiha said. In total, Russia fired 250 Shahed and other drones and 14 ballistic missiles in Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said at Telegram. Most of the UAVs were shot or stuck and six of the missiles were intercepted. Other places targeted were Odesa on the Black Sea Coast, the third largest city of Ukraine, as well as Vinsytia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipro, Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on social media. The strikes came hours after Russia and Ukraine soldiers and civilians began in the first phase of an exchange between Kyiv and Moscow at a meeting in Istanbul. The handover took place at the border between Belo Russia and the north of Ukraine, with 390 people swapped from each side. The total exchange must reach 1,000 prisoners from each country and is expected to continue throughout the weekend. Last week’s meeting in Istanbul was the first direct discussions between the warring parties in more than three years, and the prisoner exchange is the most important tangible result of the discussions so far. Zelenskiy offered to travel to Turkey for the talks, and challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him there to discuss a ceasefire. Putin, who never indicated that he personally participated in the discussions personally, sent a low-level delegation led by presidential assistant Vladimir Medinsky. “A week has passed since Istanbul’s meeting, and Russia has not yet sent its ‘peace memorandum’. Instead, Russia sends deadly drones and missiles to civilians, “Sybiha said. Russia said on Saturday that it was repelling 94 Ukrainian drones in various regions of Central Rest country overnight. The city of Yelets in Russia’s Lipetsk region was targeted for the second day, among others in an industrial area, the local governor said on Friday. hit production facilities of a company in Jielets are using batteries to stimulate Russian missiles.