Russia and Ukraine complete new prisoner swap as drone attacks continue | DW News

Key Concepts:

• Drone and missile attacks between Russia and Ukraine
• Prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine
• Impact of war on families of missing soldiers
• Escalation of Russian aerial attacks on Kiev and Odessa
• Retaliation as a motive for attacks

I. Overnight Attacks:

• Russia reported Ukrainian drone strikes, leading to temporary flight suspensions in Moscow and St. Petersburg airports.
• Ukraine reported Russian drone attacks that killed at least two people and damaged parts of Kiev.
• Ukraine's air force reported over 300 drones and seven missiles launched by Moscow.
• President Zelensky described it as one of the biggest Russian aerial attacks on Kiev of the war.
• Odessa was also hit.

II. Prisoner Swap:

• Russia and Ukraine completed the first stage of their latest prisoner swap.
• The deal had been postponed and nearly fell apart.
• Young and badly wounded soldiers were among the first to return home.
• The exchange was one of the only points agreed upon at talks in Istanbul earlier in the month.

III. Personal Stories and Impact:

• Victoria waited one and a half years for news of her son Dimma, who was released from Russian captivity.
• Families of missing in action (MIA) soldiers hope released prisoners can provide clues about their loved ones' fate.
• One woman's son went missing with two comrades on a mission in April.
• The first group exchanged consisted mainly of young men under 25, some in critical condition.

IV. Challenges and Conditions of Released Prisoners:

• The prisoner deal is fragile.
• The International Red Cross has no access to Russian places of detention.
• According to international data, over 95% of released Ukrainians from Russian captivity were subjected to everyday torture.
• Released prisoners are in poor health condition due to lack of food and medical treatment.
• One released prisoner expressed being in shock and happy to be home but hadn't seen his home yet.

V. Correspondent Report from Kiev (Mariel Müller):

• Returned prisoners looked pale, thin, and exhausted but happy to be reunited with families.
• They were in poor health due to lack of food and medical treatment, some held since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
• Prisoner exchanges are expected to continue, but the process is complicated with sensitive details.
• There is a lot of mistrust on both sides, with accusations of delaying the process.
• Russia claimed Ukraine didn't show up to an agreed exchange point and had taken bodies of over a thousand Ukrainian soldiers.
• Ukraine denied Russia's claims and accused Russia of not sticking to agreed preconditions, such as providing a list of names of the soldiers' bodies to be repatriated.
• Tatiana Levine, missing a father and cousin, expressed that the war will never end for those with missing family members.

VI. Escalation of Russian Attacks:

• Another massive missile and drone attack focused on Kiev and Odessa.
• At least one person was killed, and several were injured.
• Explosions were heard from 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., with air defense shooting down drones.
• Smoke was seen rising in different districts of Kiev.
• Russia hit around six or seven districts of Kiev's ten districts.
• Russia has increased the scale of drone attacks since the beginning of June, using well over 400 drones, compared to a maximum of 300 in previous months.
• Two days prior, there was an attack with 479 drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted.
• Russian officials confirmed the attacks as retaliation for Ukraine's strikes on Russian airfields deep inside the country, which damaged at least 20 strategic warplanes.

VII. Synthesis/Conclusion:

The situation between Russia and Ukraine remains highly volatile, characterized by ongoing overnight attacks, fragile prisoner exchanges, and the devastating impact on families of missing soldiers. The escalation of Russian aerial attacks, particularly on Kiev and Odessa, is a worrying development. The prisoner exchange process is fraught with mistrust and accusations of delays from both sides. The human cost of the conflict is immense, with released prisoners in poor health and families enduring prolonged uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.