Here is more more of the statement from Russia’s negotiator Vladimir Medinsky accusing Ukraine of pulling out of the prisoner swap, posted on Telegram and translated by Reuters: “In strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, on June 6, Russia began a humanitarian operation to hand over to Ukraine more than 6,000 bodies of killed Ukrainian servicemen, as well as to exchange wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war and prisoners of war under the age of 25,” Medinsky said. He said that 1,212 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers were in refrigerated containers at the exchange point. Russia has also handed over to Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war, categorised as “wounded, seriously ill and young people,” in order to begin the exchange, Medinsky added. “The Russian Defence Ministry’s contact group is on the border with Ukraine,” he said, adding that Ukrainian negotiators were not at the exchange location. Medinsky urged Ukraine to strictly adhere to the schedule and the agreements, and to immediately proceed with the exchange. “We are on site. We are fully prepared to work. International TV channels, news agencies and correspondents are welcome to come and see for themselves that this is indeed the case,” he said. Ukrainian officials responsible for the exchanges did not respond to a request for comment. AFP provides some more detail after Russia accused Ukraine of postposting a planned POW swap between the countries: Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv agreed on Monday to swap all wounded soldiers and those under the age of 25 who were still held as POWs. It was the only concrete outcome from the talks, at which Russia has repeatedly rejected Ukrainian calls for an immediate ceasefire. [Russia’s negotiator] Vladimir Medinsky said Russia had brought the bodies of 1,212 killed Ukrainian soldiers to the “exchange area” – the first of 6,000 to be handed over. Moscow had also handed over a list to Kyiv with the names of 640 POWs to be swapped in the first stage. More than 1,000 prisoners from each side are set to be released in the largest exchange of the three-year conflict. “We urge Kyiv to strictly adhere to the timetable and all agreements reached, and begin the exchange immediately,” Medinsky said. Kyiv did not immediately respond to the accusation. After the peace talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange would take place this weekend, while Russia said it was ready for Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of postponing a large-scale prisoner swap and the repatriation of the bodies of dead soldiers they had agreed on during peace talks in Istanbul. “The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,” Russia’s top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Russian forces carried out strikes using high-precision long-range weapons and drones on military targets in Ukraine overnight, the Russian defence ministry said on Saturday. “The objective of the strikes has been achieved. All designated targets have been hit,” the ministry said, according to Reuters. Four Ukrainian unmanned boats have also been destroyed in the Black Sea, Russian news agencies reported, citing the ministry. Here are some more images coming in from Kharkiv today: In the Dnipropetrovsk province, two women aged 45 and 88 were injured, according to local governor Serhii Lysak, reports Associated Press (AP). Russian shelling also killed a couple in their 50s in the southern city of Kherson, close to the frontlines, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported in a Facebook post. Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov has shared that, as well as a baby boy (see 9.58am BST), a 14-year-old girl is among the 21 people injured in an overnight attack on the city. Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has described Russia as continuing “its terror against civilians”, after at least three people were killed in an overnight attack on Kharkiv. “To put an end to Russia’s killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,” he said. Posting on X on Saturday morning, Sybiha wrote: Russia continues its terror against civilians. Hundreds of drones and missiles rained down on Ukraine overnight. Kharkiv had a particularly terrible night. 53 drones, four guided aerial bombs, and one missile. At least three people were killed, with 21 injured. There were strikes throughout Ukraine-in the Donetsk, Dnipro, Ternopil, Odesa, and other regions. People were injured and killed, and the energy infrastructure was also damaged. To put an end to Russia’s killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine. Russia is a terrorist state, and it must be called such. It has already done more than enough to earn this title. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the latest attack. Ukraine’s air forces shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on Saturday morning, the Ukrainian military said. “This morning, on 7 June 2025, as a result of a successful air force operation in the Kursk direction, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was shot down,” the military said on the Telegram messenger, according to Reuters. It gave no more details. Russian forces have not yet commented on the matter while Reuters could not independently verify the report. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted a large drone attack on more than 40 Russian military aircraft last week, damaging or destroying tens of Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent reports that emergency crews in Kharkiv are on scene, searching for more victims trapped underneath the rubble. Two children were injured in the attack, including a one-month-old baby, the English-language Ukrainian online newspaper reports, citing regional governor Oleh Syniehubov. Earlier this week, the US president, Donald Trump, said Russia and Ukraine may need to “fight for a while” to assist efforts to bring peace, likening the two countries to bickering and fighting children. Trump was speaking alongside the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who was visiting the White House. Trump said: “Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart. And I gave that analogy to Putin yesterday.” You can listen to Trump’s comments in this video: My colleague, Daniel Boffey reporting from Kyiv, has written an in-depth piece about the man behind the success of Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb. Vasyl Malyuk, who hailed giving Russia a “slap in the face”, has scored a series of high-profile successes as the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), writes Boffey. You can read the full piece here: Russian aviation authorities restricted flights at Moscow regional airports on Friday night as the capital came under threat from Ukrainian drones. It was the third suspension since the night of Thursday 5 June. Russia was attacked with at least 82 Ukrainian drones in areas including the Moscow region over eight-and-a-half hours, the Russian defence ministry said early on Saturday. The Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said another six drones had been headed for the capital. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had downed 36 Ukrainian drones fired at its territory. The Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired 206 drones and nine missiles in the overnight barrage, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). The attacks come ahead of an expected prisoner swap, set to take place this weekend – the only concrete agreement to come out of peace talks between the two sides. Kharkiv region governor Oleg Synegubov said the injured included two children. In the southern city of Kherson, Russian shelling killed a couple and damaged two high-rise buildings, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Attacks were also recorded on the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Ternopil regions. According to AFP, rescuers in the western city of Lutsk, near the Polish border, meanwhile discovered a second fatality from strikes a day earlier, describing the victim as a woman in her 20s. Here are some of the images coming out of Kharkiv, Ukraine, today via the newswires: The large Russian drone-and-missile attack that targeted Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, has killed at least three people and injured 21, local Ukrainian officials said, according to the Associated Press (AP). Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Citing preliminary data, he said Russia used 48 Shahed drones, two missiles and four aerial glide bombs in the attack. More now on the overnight attacks on Kharkiv, which we’ve learned also reportedly injured a one-and-a-half -month-old baby. The mayor of the city, which is Ukraine’s second largest, said the attack was Russia’s biggest . “Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war,” Ihor Terekhov said on the Telegram messenger early on Saturday. Dozens of explosions were heard in the city through the night and Russian troops were striking simultaneously with missiles, drones and guided aerial bombs, he said. Multi-storey and private residential buildings, educational and infrastructure facilities were attacked, he added. Welcome to our coverage of the ongoing war in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Here’s what we’re covering following the latest developments. Russian strikes on the Ukrainian cities of Kherson and Kharkiv early on Saturday killed at least five people, officials said. A strike on a high-rise building in Kherson killed a couple, said Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional governor. Russia hit Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, with missiles, Shahed drones and guided bombs before dawn on Saturday, killing three people in what the mayor, Igor Terekhov, described as the “most powerful attack” there since the start of the war. Seventeen people were wounded. One woman was pulled alive from the rubble of a high-rise building. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Russia had “‘responded’ to its destroyed aircraft … by attacking civilians in Ukraine … Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged.” Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed Russian strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadcopter drones hidden on top of trucks in Operation Spiderweb. Russia’s missile and drone barrage against Kyiv on Friday killed at least seven people, Ukrainian officials said. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said three emergency workers who went to a bomb site were “killed in a repeat Russian strike”. Two died in an attack on the northern city of Chernihiv and at two more in the north-western city of Lutsk. Eighty people were injured in attacks across Ukraine on Friday.
Author: Hayden Vernon (now); Amy Sedghi and Luke Jacobs (earlier)