Star Metro - Nine killed in Ukraine as it trades fire with Russia overnight

Four people were reported dead in the western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region -- which came under attack for the second night running -- and one in Mykolaiv in the south.

"Last night, the Khmelnytskyi region came under hostile Russian fire, which resulted in the destruction of civilian infrastructure... Unfortunately, four people were killed," Sergiy Tyurin, the deputy head of the regional military administration, said in a Telegram post.

Five people were also wounded in the Khmelnytskyi region, he said.

Emergency services said in a Telegram post that four people were killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, including three children, in the "massive night attack".

A man was also killed when a residential building was hit by a drone in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, the emergency services said.

Russian authorities meanwhile reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been downed.

The latest fire comes as the two sides pursue their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

AFP journalists heard explosions in the Ukrainian capital, with Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city's military administration, warning "the night will not be easy".

The capital was "under attack" but "air defences are operating", said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Tkachenko reported "more than a dozen enemy drones" were in airspace around the capital.

"Some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital," he wrote on Telegram.

Debris fell on a five-storey residential building, he added.

Overnight attacks were also reported in the Kherson region.

In Moscow, restrictions were imposed on at least four airports, including the main hub Sheremetyevo, the Russian civilian aviation authority said.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 drones flying towards the Russian capital had been intercepted.

- 'Crazy feelings' -

The renewed attacks follow Ukraine's air force on Saturday morning saying Russia had launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight, which officials said left 15 wounded.

The Russian military said Saturday that Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday.

Dozens of drones targeting Moscow have been shot down over the past week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia's attacks indicated Moscow was "prolonging the war" and repeated his call for ramped-up sanctions.

But he also said he expected officials to press on with a prisoner swap agreed during talks last week in Istanbul.

On Saturday, 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow.

Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total.

Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the exchange, without saying what those terms would be.

The two enemies have held regular prisoner swaps, but none has been on this scale.

An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds waiting outside.

"It's simply crazy. Crazy feelings," 31-year-old Konstantin Steblev, a soldier, told AFP after he was released following three years in captivity.

- Diplomatic push -

US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap.

"This could lead to something big???" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump's efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.

One of the soldiers formerly held captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP it was hard to express his emotional homecoming.

"It's impossible to describe. I can't put it into words. It's very joyful," he said.

After more than three years of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries.

Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000.

Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up in recent weeks, but the Kremlin has shown no sign it has walked back its maximalist demands for ending the fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has defied European pressure for a full and unconditional truce in Ukraine, pressing on with its offensive, which has left tens of thousands dead.

A.Harris--SMC