Prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine under way

A captive speech is nether mode betwixt Russia and Ukraine, governments successful Moscow and Kyiv person confirmed.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the speech would unfold "in respective stages" implicit the coming days, adding that the wounded, earnestly wounded and soldiers nether 25 were being returned.

Writing connected Telegram, Zelensky said: "The process is rather complicated, determination are galore delicate details, negotiations proceed virtually each day."

Russia said a "similar number" of prisoners of warfare had been returned to Ukraine, though neither broadside provided an nonstop fig for however galore radical had been exchanged.

Russia's defence ministry said "the archetypal radical of Russian servicemen nether the property of 25 were returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime" pursuing an statement reached betwixt the warring countries past week during talks successful Turkey.

As with past exchanges, Moscow said the exchanged Russian soldiers were receiving intelligence and aesculapian assistance successful Belarus.

On the Ukrainian side, relatives of prisoners of warfare and the missing gathered successful the Chernihiv region, adjacent to the borderline with Belarus, to greet the released prisoners and, successful galore cases, question quality of others inactive successful captivity.

Last week, Moscow and Kyiv accused each different of disrupting the planned repatriation of the bodies of dormant soldiers.

In precocious May, Russia and Ukraine each handed implicit 390 soldiers and civilians successful the biggest captive speech since Russia launched the full-scale penetration successful 2022.

Meanwhile, warfare continued overnight, with Moscow launching a grounds 479 drones astatine Ukraine, including connected the occidental portion of Rivne that had been mostly spared from attacks.

Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted Rivne's Dubno basal and described this arsenic "one of the retaliatory strikes" successful effect to Ukraine's audacious drone attacks connected Russian airfields connected 1 June.

The overnight Russian launches caused harm successful respective Ukrainian regions but determination were nary reports of casualties.

Russia has precocious escalated its attacks connected Ukraine, with each week bringing a caller grounds of drones fired astatine the country.

For its part, Kyiv said it attacked different Russian airbase successful the Nizhny Novgorod region, which lies 400 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine said the basal houses planes that motorboat hypersonic missiles and that it had damaged "two units of force aircraft".

It besides targeted an electronics mill that Kyiv says manufactures instrumentality to usher drones and aerial bombs.

Video shows 1 of the explosions caused by an onslaught drone, and a ample occurrence astatine the plant. Production determination has been suspended.