The second round of a major planned POW swap between Russia and Ukraine went ahead on Saturday, hours after Ukraine’s capital was attacked by a sustained Russian drone and missile barrage.

Another 307 prisoners on each side were exchanged near Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

Earlier, explosions were heard across Kyiv and debris from intercepted projectiles fell in several districts after Kremlin forces fired drones and missiles at the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Social media posts showed clouds of smoke above the city and damaged high-rise apartment buildings after an assault that continued for some seven hours.

The head of Kyiv’s military administration called the air attack the “most massive” the capital has faced so far in the war, which is well into its fourth year. At least 15 people were injured in Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

“This is Russia’s response to international peace efforts and a clear evidence that increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process,” Sybiha said.

In all, Russia fired 250 Shahed and other drones and 14 ballistic missiles into Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram. Most of the UAVs were shot down or jammed and six of the missiles were intercepted.

Other locations targeted included Odesa on the Black Sea coast, Ukraine’s third largest city, as well as the Vinnytsia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipro regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

Russia’s defense ministry said in a readout its forces targeted a Ukrainian enterprise that produces missile weapons and drones, a military reconnaissance center and the position of a U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system. Russia also claimed to have seized control of Loknya, a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region near the nations’ border.

The airstrikes came hours after Russia and Ukraine began swapping soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange agreed between Kyiv and Moscow at a meeting in Istanbul last week.

Friday’s handover involved 390 people swapped from each side, and the total exchange should reach 1,000 prisoners from each country. The Russian service members are receiving initial assistance in Belarus and will be returned to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation. Among those returned to Ukraine are soldiers from the army, the State Border Service, and the National Guard, Zelenskyy said.

Last week’s Istanbul meeting marked the first direct talks between the warring parties in more than three years, and the prisoner swap is the main tangible result of the talks so far.

Zelenskyy 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 he’d personally take part personally in the discussions, sent a low-level delegation headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.

“One week has passed since the Istanbul meeting, and Russia has yet to send its ‘peace memorandum.’ Instead, Russia sends deadly drones and missiles at civilians,” Sybiha said.

Separately on Saturday, Russia said it repelled 94 Ukrainian drones overnight across several regions of central Russia.

The city of Yelets in Russia’s Lipetsk region was targeted for the second day, including in an industrial area, local governor said. Ukraine on Friday said its hit production facilities of a company in Yelets that makes batteries used to power Russian missiles.

———

(With assistance from Michael Heath.)

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.