Russia and Ukraine announced Wednesday they have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war.
Ukrainian officials said 230 of their soldiers had been released by Russia.
Russia’s defense ministry said 248 of its soldiers had returned home from Ukrainian captivity under a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
The two sides have previously exchanged prisoners at various times during the nearly two-year war.
Earlier, Russia’s defense ministry said Wednesday its air defenses destroyed 12 Ukrainian missiles over the Belgorod region, days after a Ukrainian attack in the same area killed 24 people and prompted a vow of intensified attacks from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tuesday brought extensive Russian missile attacks that killed at least five people and wounded as many as 130 in Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine's air force said Russian forces used 35 drones and 99 missiles, launched by air and sea, and that Ukrainian air defenses downed all the drones and 72 of the missiles.
Utility workers repair water pipes outside a high-rise building destroyed in a Russian missile attack in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 3, 2024.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Wednesday that in response to “the latest onslaught on Ukraine,” allies should respond by tightening sanctions on Russia and providing Ukrainian forces with long-range missiles.
Sikorski said on X, formerly Twitter, that the missiles would enable Ukraine to “take out launch sites and command centers.”
Poland borders Ukraine, and its military dispatched four F-16 fighter jets to protect its own airspace amid Tuesday’s Russian attacks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office issued a statement Tuesday denying that mine-hunting ships donated by Britain to Ukraine were allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits and reach the Black Sea.
Britain said last month it was transferring two Royal Navy Sandown Class mine countermeasures vessels to Ukraine to help counter the threat from Russian mines and allow for Ukrainian export operations through the Black Sea.
Turkey said in its statement that since the start of the war in Ukraine, it has closed the Turkish Straits to warships of Russia and Ukraine and “maintains its unwavering determination and principled stance throughout this war to prevent the escalation of tension in the Black Sea.”
Turkey said allies were told the mine-hunting ships would not be allowed through the Turkish Straits “as long as the war continues.”
Some material for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.