Prisoner swaps completed as Russia fires barrage at Kyiv

Ros Krasny and Daryna Krasnolutska, Bloomberg News on May 25, 2025

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The third day of prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine went ahead as planned on Sunday, wrapping up a program agreed to earlier this month, hours after a second night of deadly missile and drone strikes across much of Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities said at least 12 people were killed in heavy Russian airstrikes, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to renew his call for more sanctions.

“Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day,” Zelenskyy said on the social media platform X. “Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin.”

Russian attacks on Ukraine have intensified in recent days despite the two sides holding their first direct talks since 2022, in Istanbul on May 16. That meeting was followed by a high-profile phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on May 19.

Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the third round of the prisoner exchange was held on Sunday, with 303 service members swapped.

That takes the total number transferred between the warring countries over three days to the agreed-on total of 1,000, the largest of the war.

Zelenskiy confirmed the swap in a post on X, saying that the Ukrainians returned included members of the armed forces, national guard, border service and state special transport service.

Istanbul is currently most likely venue for a second round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, Russia’s state-run Tass news service reported on Sunday, citing a person who wasn’t identified.

Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, put the overnight death toll from ballistic missile, cruise missile and drone strikes across Ukraine at 12.

State emergency services said early Sunday that at least four people had been killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, many of them children.

In a readout, the Russian defense ministry said it had launched a “massive strike” against Ukraine’s military-industrial complex. In the past 24 hours, Russian air defense forces downed 274 Ukrainian drones, as well as guided aerial bombs, the ministry said.

On Sunday afternoon, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a series of social media posts that five unmanned aerial vehicles flying toward the capital had been downed. Three airports in the region halted flights for a time before resuming operations, the Russian aviation service said.

Even by the standards of Russia’s full-scale invasion, now well into its fourth year, the intensity of airstrikes on Ukraine’s capital and other regions this weekend has been notable.

Ukraine’s air defense forces said 266 of 298 drones targeting the country overnight had been shot down or jammed. Russia also fired a total of 69 ballistic and cruise missiles, with 45 cruise missiles downed, the Ukrainian military said.

Among the targets struck and damaged in Kyiv in the latest barrage were a student dormitory, private housing and residential buildings, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Airstrikes were reported in at least 30 cities and villages from Ukraine’s south to central and western areas, and Kharkiv and Sumy in the northeast.

“The most massive Russian airstrike in many weeks lasted all night,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media.

“This once again emphasizes the imperative of a full, unconditional, and durable ceasefire for any meaningful peace effort,” Sybiha said. “The world must pressure Russia to accept it and put an end to the killings immediately.”

After his call with Putin last week, Trump said on social media that Ukraine and Russia would “immediately start negotiations” toward a ceasefire — but possibly without the U.S.

The outcome raised fears among European leaders that Trump was disengaging from a diplomatic effort he recently championed, or was ambivalent toward reaching a peace settlement, Bloomberg reported.

“Both sides are going to have to demonstrate that they’re interested in peace. And I think that’s what President Trump has been trying to determine: if both sides, especially the Russians in this moment, are serious about a peace deal,” Matthew Whitaker, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “And if not, unfortunately, the war will continue.”

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(With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.)