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Ukraine, Russia swap more captured soldiers after nighttime attacks
Russia and Ukraine swapped more captured soldiers Tuesday, hours after Moscow launched a wave of drone and missile strikes across Ukraine that targeted a maternity hospital and killed at least three people, Kyiv said.
The deal to swap more than 1,000 prisoners of war, along with the handing over of dead soldiers' bodies, was the only concrete agreement to come out of peace talks between the two sides.
Moscow has escalated its bombardments of Ukraine despite being urged by US President Donald Trump to end its three-year invasion, with Kyiv launching retaliatory attacks deep inside Russian territory.
Talks in Turkey last week failed to yield a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war, with Russia rejecting calls for an unconditional ceasefire and outlining a string of hardline demands.
After the overnight barrage of more than 300 drones and seven missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Kyiv's Western allies to respond with "concrete action".
"Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong," Zelensky wrote in a post on social media.
"The exchanges are to continue. We are doing everything we can to find and return every single person who is in captivity," Zelensky said on social media.
He published photos of smiling Ukrainian soldiers -- all with freshly shaved heads -- draped in national flags.
Russia's defence ministry also confirmed the swap, though neither side said how many soldiers were freed.
On Monday, Moscow and Kyiv swapped a group of captured soldiers.
Russia's defence ministry said on Monday "the first group of Russian servicemen under 25 years of age" was exchanged. Kyiv said "injured and severely wounded" were swapped on Tuesday.
The two sides had agreed to free all captured soldiers under the age of 25, as well as those wounded and sick.
- Maternity hospital hit -
Moscow earlier on Tuesday said it had targeted "Ukrainian aviation, missile, armoured vehicle and ship-building facilities in Kyiv" in an overnight "group strike".
"The goal of the strikes was achieved. All designated targets were hit," the ministry said.
But residential and hospital buildings were struck in Odesa, where two people were killed and at least nine others were wounded, Governor Oleg Kiper said.
"The enemy massively attacked Odesa with strike drones," Kiper wrote on Telegram.
"The Russians hit a maternity hospital, an emergency medical ward and residential buildings," he said, adding that the maternity hospital had been evacuated in time.
In central Kyiv, an AFP journalist heard at least a dozen explosions, anti-aircraft fire and the buzzing of drones.
City officials said one woman was killed and four people were wounded.
Russia's 2022 invasion of its neighbour triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II, forcing millions to flee their homes and decimating much of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian cities are targeted by Russian air strikes almost daily.
Kyiv has responded with attacks on Russian territory, targeting transport and weapons production infrastructure.
In the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, Russian emergency services said one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a petrol station.
Russia's defence ministry said it had intercepted 102 Ukrainian drones overnight.
- 'Pointless' -
Despite pressure from Trump to reach a ceasefire agreement, peace talks are at a standstill.
While welcoming POW exchanges, Zelensky said last week it was "pointless" to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation -- whom he previously dismissed as "empty heads" -- since they could not agree to a ceasefire.
No date has been set for future talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected calls by Zelensky for a face-to-face summit to break the impasse.
Over the weekend Moscow said it had pushed its offensive into the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time, marking a significant territorial escalation.
Ukraine said frontline shelling in the Kharkiv region had killed a 70-year-old man.
As a condition for halting its invasion, Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the territories Moscow says it has annexed and forswear joining NATO.
It has also rejected a proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire sought by Kyiv and the European Union, arguing that this would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm with Western deliveries.
Ukraine is demanding a complete Russian withdrawal of from its territory and security guarantees from the West.
D. Meier--BTZ
