Amid ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine, a important prisoner exchange involving 314 individuals has been brokered, offering a fragile sign of progress as trilateral negotiations continue. The exchange comes as international efforts to de-escalate the four-year conflict persist, though recent attacks – including a deadly drone strike in Zaporizhzhia that killed a couple – highlight the precarious situation on the ground. Further complicating the geopolitical landscape, reports indicate heightened tensions following an attempt on the life of a senior Russian military intelligence official in Moscow.
A prisoner exchange involving 314 individuals has been agreed upon between Ukraine and Russia, according to an American envoy, as trilateral negotiations continue in an effort to find a path toward ending the ongoing conflict. The development comes amid continued fighting, including a recent drone attack in the Zaporizhzhia region that left a couple dead.
Moscow: Shots fired at deputy head of Russian military intelligence in the capital
Vladimir Alekseyev, a general and deputy head of Russian military intelligence, was shot in Moscow this morning and rushed to the hospital, Russian investigators said. According to the Investigative Committee, an unidentified individual fired several shots at Alekseyev in a residential building on Volokolamskoe Avenue before fleeing the scene. “The victim was hospitalized,” the committee stated, as reported by the Ria Novosti news agency.
Kyiv: One dead, two injured in Russian attack on Dnipropetrovsk
One person was killed and two others injured in a Russian attack overnight on the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk. Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the regional administration, said that the communities of Vasylkivska, Malomykhaylivska, Slovianska, and Pokrovska in the Synelnyky district were targeted. “The aggressor used drones and guided bombs. One man was killed, and two other people were injured,” Ganzha said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Ukraine: Drone attack in Zaporizhzhia, couple killed
A couple was killed overnight in a Russian drone attack in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, local authorities reported. A 49-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman died when their home in the city of Vilniansk was struck. A 14-year-old boy was also injured in a separate attack in the regional capital, also named Zaporizhzhia. Preliminary reports indicate that further Russian strikes hit the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, without causing any reported casualties. These attacks follow mediated talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi this week, aimed at reaching an agreement to end Moscow’s invasion, which began four years ago.
Positions
The U.S. president has rejected a proposal from the Kremlin leader to extend the limits of New START beyond its expiration date: “A new agreement is needed.” Dialogue in Abu Dhabi on peace in Ukraine was “not easy.”
Diplomacy
In Paris, von der Leyen and Macron reaffirmed the need for a Brussels initiative to engage with the Tsar.
