Moscow says Russia and Ukraine exchange 146 prisoners each

The speech comes amid diplomatic efforts to lick the struggle and a Ukrainian drone onslaught connected Russia overnight.

Russia and Ukraine person each exchanged 146 prisoners of warfare (POWs) aft mediation by the United Arab Emirates, the Russian Ministry of Defence says astir the latest successful a bid of exchanges that has seen hundreds of POWs released this year.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the ministry said connected Telegram connected Sunday.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of warfare of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added.

The ministry said the freed Russians were successful Belarus receiving intelligence and aesculapian care.

Large-scale captive exchanges were the lone tangible effect of 3 rounds of talks betwixt Russian and Ukrainian delegations successful Istanbul from May to July.

They stay 1 of the fewer areas of practice betwixt the 2 countries since Russia’s war connected its neighbour began successful 2022.

Russia besides said “eight citizens of the Russian Federation – residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv, were besides returned arsenic portion of the exchange. Kursk sits connected the borderline with Ukraine.

On Sunday, Russia besides accused Ukraine of carrying retired an overnight drone onslaught connected a atomic works that caused a occurrence and damaged an auxiliary transformer.

The onslaught forced a 50 percent simplification successful the operating capableness astatine reactor fig 3 astatine the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, 60km (38 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border, according to Russian officials, who added that respective powerfulness and vigor facilities were targeted successful the strikes.

US revokes permission

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Washington has revoked support for strikes successful Russia with United States-manufactured weapons, confirming an earlier study successful US media.

He added that Kyiv has lately been utilizing its ain weapons to deed its force and does not consult connected this with Washington.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed Zelenskyy connected Sunday for “obstinately insisting, mounting conditions, demanding an contiguous gathering astatine each costs” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The developments came arsenic Ukraine marked its Independence Day connected Sunday, commemorating its 1991 declaration of independency from the Soviet Union.

The efforts to settee the struggle person been ongoing since US President Donald Trump held talks successful Alaska with Putin a week ago, but Trump has been incapable frankincense acold to coax Putin into a gathering with Zelenskyy.

Trump said connected Friday that successful 2 weeks helium should cognize whether advancement is imaginable successful his bid to extremity the Russia-Ukraine warfare arsenic helium again raised the imaginable of imposing sanctions connected Moscow.