Missiles Rain On Kyiv As Moscow Swaps Captives In Tense Deal

City officials reported that at least eight individuals sustained injuries during a drone and missile strike on Kyiv this past Saturday, coinciding with a significant prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s civil and military administration, described fires and scattered debris across multiple areas of the city following a series of explosions heard overnight by AFP journalists.

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that two of the injured had been admitted to hospitals and posted on Telegram that the capital and its surrounding region were under sustained enemy assault, with air defense systems actively engaged throughout the night.

In a separate statement, the Russian military claimed that since Tuesday, Ukraine had launched 788 drones and missiles targeting Russian forces, of which 776 were reportedly intercepted and destroyed. The assault on Kyiv occurred mere hours after Russia and Ukraine concluded the initial phase of a prisoner swap, negotiated during talks in Istanbul the previous week. Both parties reportedly received 390 detainees in this first round, with plans to exchange a total of 1,000 prisoners each over three days.

Additionally, Russia indicated intentions to present Ukraine with terms for a peace settlement following the exchange, although no details of these proposals have yet been revealed. Regular prisoner swaps have taken place since Russia’s 2022 military campaign began, but none have matched the scale of this latest operation.

An AFP correspondent witnessed several of the recently freed Ukrainian soldiers arriving at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region. Despite their emaciated condition, many greeted onlookers with smiles and waves, embodying a poignant mixture of resilience and relief.

After they stepped off the bus, tearful relatives rushed to embrace the soldiers while others held pictures of their loved ones, hoping to find out if they had been seen in captivity.

Many of the soldiers were draped in bright yellow and blue Ukrainian flags.

“The first stage of the ‘1,000-for-1,000’ exchange agreement has been carried out,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.

“Today — 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue.”

Russia said it had received 270 Russian troops and 120 civilians, including some from parts of its Kursk region captured and held by Kyiv for months.

The two sides have not yet revealed the identities of those exchanged.

US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap.

“This could lead to something big???” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.

Former Ukrainian prisoner of war Viktor Syvak, 58, expressed deep emotion and gratitude upon his release, marking the end of more than three harrowing years in captivity. Speaking to AFP, Syvak recounted the overwhelming nature of his return, describing the reception he received as profoundly moving and far beyond his expectations.

Captured in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Syvak had endured 37 months and 12 days in detention. He told reporters that the welcome he received upon returning home was so powerful it defied words, filling him with indescribable joy.

As scenes of reunion and relief played out for some families, many others remained gripped by uncertainty. Liudmyla Parkhomenko, whose son went missing during intense combat in the war-torn city of Bakhmut, spoke of the agonizing wait for information. Her family has spent two years searching for answers, clinging to hope that he might still be alive. “We feel it in our hearts,” she said, holding on to optimism that her son might be among those freed in the latest prisoner exchange.

After 39 months of relentless conflict, the humanitarian toll remains staggering. Thousands of prisoners of war continue to be held by both Russia and Ukraine, their fates uncertain, as families on both sides await closure or reunion.

Africa Today News, New York