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Officials on both sides said Saturday that dozens of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war have returned home following a prisoner exchange.
Andriy Yermak, a top presidential assistant in Ukraine, said in a Telegram message that 116 Ukrainians were liberated.
He stated that among the liberated POWs are soldiers who held out in Mariupol during the months-long siege that reduced the southern port city to ruins, as well as guerrilla fighters from the Kherson region and snipers seized during the ongoing hard fighting for the eastern city of Bakhmut.
In the meantime, Russian defense officials stated that 63 Russian personnel had returned from Ukraine as a result of the swap, including several “special category” prisoners whose release was facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.
Saturday’s statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense lacked information regarding these “special category” captives.
At least three civilians have been murdered in Ukraine in the past 24 hours as a result of Russian attacks on nine districts in the country’s south, north, and east, regional governors reported on Saturday morning on Ukrainian television.
Russian army officials reported that 63 Russian personnel had returned from Ukraine as a result of the swap, including some captives from the “special category
The released POWs include troops that held out in Mariupol for months during Moscow’s siege, as well as guerrilla fighters from the Kherson region and snipers seized during the ongoing hard fighting for the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Russian shelling and missile attacks killed two persons and injured fourteen others in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, local governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported over Telegram on Saturday morning.
Russian missiles struck the village of Toretsk in the Donetsk area on Friday, resulting in the death of one individual and the injury of seven others. Kyrylenko reported that the strike damaged 34 homes, two kindergartens, an outpatient clinic, a library, and a cultural center.
Seven teens were injured by shrapnel after an anti-personnel mine burst late Friday in the northeastern city of Izium, according to the local governor, Oleh Syniehubov. He stated that although they were hospitalized, their lives were not in danger.
Regional Ukrainian officials said that Russia shelled border settlements in the northern Sumy region and the town of Marhanets, which is adjacent to the Zaporizhia nuclear power station, overnight. Kiev has long accused Moscow of using the facility, which was captured by Russian forces early in the conflict, as a launching pad for operations against Ukrainian-held territory across the Dnieper.
The grid operator of Ukraine said that the Black Sea port of Odesa and nearby territories were plunged into darkness due to a widespread network breakdown.
Ukrenergo stated in a Telegram update that the failure was caused by equipment that had been “repeatedly repaired” following Russia’s violent attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, and that inhabitants should prepare for prolonged blackouts.
“Unfortunately, the scope of the disaster is rather large, and this time the restrictions on the power supply will last longer. “It is currently impossible to pinpoint when (power) will be fully restored,” the business stated.
The Ukrainian energy minister and the head of Ukrenergo are en route to Odessa to supervise repairs, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
»Dozens of soldiers were released in a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine«