Moscow has executed more than 150 prisoners of war after they surrendered to Russian forces, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency has said.
The United Nations also reported in March that they had documented increasing numbers of cases in which Russian forces deliberately killed soldiers, while intelligence officials have cited multiple instances of Putin’s forces receiving direct orders to kill.
The statement comes shortly after the first stage of a large-scale prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia, which saw 800 prisoners released.
Meanwhile, at least 15 people were injured after Russia attacked Ukraine's capital Kyiv early today with drones and missiles, triggering fires and strewing debris in districts throughout the city, the city's mayor said.
The overnight strikes come after several days of some 800 attacks on targets inside Russia, including capital Moscow. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov vowed yesterday to respond to those attacks.
The Ukrainian president renewed calls for global pressure on Moscow for a ceasefire after 390 prisoners were returned to Ukraine yesterday, with more to follow over the weekend in the “thousand for a thousand” war swap. The swap took place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official.
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Key Points
- Russia ‘executed Ukrainian prisoners more than 150 times’
- 14 people injured in largest drone and missile attack on Kyiv
- Zelensky announces 390 Ukrainians returned in first stage of prisoner swap
- Former Ukrainian commander says Ukraine cannot regain all lost territory
- Russian forces are creating ‘buffer zone’ along Russia-Ukraine border, Putin claims
Prisoner swap has not seen change in battleground tactics
11:30
,
Holly Evans
Despite a prisoner swap marking a rare moment of co-operation, battles have continued along the roughly 620-mile front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed.
After the meeting in May in Istanbul, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a "confidence-building measure" and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic manoeuvres continued.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a "sustainable, long-term, comprehensive" peace agreement, once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.
Watch: Zelensky shares footage of largest Moscow drone and missile attack on Kyiv
11:18
,
Holly Evans
Russia says its forces capture three more settlements in east Ukraine
11:05
,
Holly Evans
Russian troops have captured the settlements of Stupochki, Otradne and Loknia in Ukraine's Donetsk and Sumy regions, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
The battlefield report has not been independently confirmed.
Russia ‘executed Ukrainian prisoners more than 150 times’
10:45
,
Holly Evans
Kyiv’s military intelligence agency have said that Russian forces have executed Ukrainian prisoners more than 150 times.
Intelligence officials said they had received reports of multiple instances where a “direct orders to kill” prisoners of war had been received by Putin’s troops.
According to the agency, these acts are “not isolated incidents” but part of a deliberate and systematic policy of the Russian leadership.
In March, the United Nations also reported a growing number of cases in which Russian forces deliberately killed or maimed Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered or attempted to surrender.
Kyiv military say overnight attack was a 'difficult night for all of us'
10:40
,
Holly Evans
Russia attacked Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones overnight, officials said, adding that Ukrainian forces shot down 6 missiles and neutralized 245 drones — 128 drones were shot down and 117 were thwarted using electronic warfare.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said it was one of the most massive combined missile and drone attacks on the capital.
"A difficult night for all of us," the administration said in a statement.
The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six city districts of the Ukrainian capital.
According to the acting head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack and two fires were sparked in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv.
The Obolon district, where a residential building was heavily damaged in the attack, was the hardest hit. There were at least five wounded in the area, the administration said.
Ukraine and Russia swap 800 prisoners in biggest exchange of war yet
10:22
,
Holly Evans
Russia and Ukraine have begun a major prisoner exchange swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians.
It marks the first phase of an exchange that marked a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the three-year-old war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians, including soldiers and civilians, with further releases expected over the weekend that will make it the largest swap of the war.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it received the same number from Ukraine.
Read the full article here:
Ukraine and Russia agree to comply to peace talks despite continued bombardment
09:31
,
Holly Evans
Both Ukraine and Russia said they will comply with a request from U.S. President Donald Trump to hold fresh talks about a peace deal. The two sides carried out a major prisoner exchange on Friday, which Trump suggested could be the first step towards more positive developments.
However, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of not being serious about seeking an end to the fighting, with Russia launching a “massive” drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital.
Zelensky calls for additional sanctions after overnight attack
08:43
,
Holly Evans
A huge attack overnight on Ukraine by Russian drones and ballistic missiles was a fresh demonstration that Moscow is blocking a ceasefire deal to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
"It was a tough night for all of Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote on social media platform Telegram.
"With each such attack, the world becomes convinced that the reason for the war being dragged out is Moscow," he wrote. "Only additional sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire."
Fragments of Russian missiles and drones are being cleared in Kyiv. Rescue and emergency operations are ongoing at the sites of strikes and debris impacts — wherever they are needed. There were many fires and explosions in the city overnight. Once again, residential buildings,… pic.twitter.com/F3szA4gCJz
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 24, 2025
Buildings damaged and residents left in 'distress' after latest drone attack
08:24
,
Holly Evans
In the early hours of the morning, Reuters witnesses saw and heard successive waves of drones flying over Kyiv, and a series of explosions jolted the city. The capital also reverberated with the sound of anti-aircraft batteries trying to bring down the drones.
Pictures posted online showed smoke billowing from the top of one block of flats and flames leaping from part of another as emergency crews trained water on it. An orange-red glow lit up the city as plumes of smoke wafted across the horizon. By morning, the Kyiv city military administration reported damage in six districts of the Ukrainian capital, and a total so far of 14 people wounded.
As dawn broke on Saturday, residents at an apartment building just outside the centre of Kyiv were surveying the damage caused by drones.
Dozens of windows had been shattered, and balconies on one side of the building were smashed.
"I wish they’d agree to a ceasefire. To bomb people like this," said Olha Chyrukha, a 64-year-old resident. "The poor children! My three-year-old granddaughter was screaming scared."
A 62-year-old resident, who gave only her first name of Kateryna, said: "It is a great distress for people. The first thing that I thought is that people got hurt for nothing."
14 people injured in largest drone and missile attack on Kyiv
07:52
,
Holly Evans
At least 14 people were injured in one of the biggest combined drone and ballistic missile attacks to date on the Ukrainian capital, the city's military administration said in a post on messaging app Telegram on Saturday.
The Ukrainian air force said that Russia launched 250 long-range drones overnight, with the target being Kyiv.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in maps
07:30
,
Arpan Rai
Below you can see the latest map of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The map has been provided by the British Ministry of Defence, who has been publishing regular intelligence updates on the state of the war on Ukraine.
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.
— Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) May 23, 2025
The map below is the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 23 May 2025.#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/uQ7svNnu7H
Ukraine and US finalise reconstruction fund
07:15
,
Arpan Rai
Ukraine and the US have finished setting up the US-Ukraine reconstruction fund, the core part of the agreement to share profits from new Ukrainian resource projects.
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said all procedures to set up the fund were completed on Friday.
“The Fund is now officially launched,” she said on X.
Read more about the fund and why it was created here.
Today, Ukraine and the United States have finalized all procedures for the launch of the US–Ukraine Reconstruction Fund.
— Yulia Svyrydenko (@Svyrydenko_Y) May 23, 2025
The final step—a diplomatic note from the United States–which i received personally this morning from US Chargé d’Affaires Julie S. Davis.
❗️The Fund is now… pic.twitter.com/jE4x1T4erG
Trump’s involvement in Ukraine peace talks ‘giving Putin more power’, Yulia Navalnaya says
07:00
,
Arpan Rai
Yulia Navalnaya has said Donald Trump’s negotiations with Russia on Ukraine are making Vladimir Putin “feel stronger”.
The Russian activist and widow of the late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny said Trump speaking to the Russian president “like they’re equal” is making him more powerful.
She made the remarks while speaking at a sold-out event with Alastair Campbell at Wales’ Hay Festival on Friday, which The Independent is once again partnering with.
Athena Stavrou reports live from Hay Festival:
Trump heralds prisoner swap - before it takes place
06:45
,
Arpan Rai
Earlier on Friday, US president Donald Trump heralded the Ukraine and Russia prisoner swap, before it had been completed.
“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine,” he wrote on Friday morning US time.
“It will go into effect shortly. Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???”
'We waited, hoped': Families wait for returned Ukrainian prisoners
06:30
,
Arpan Rai
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted photographs of the 390 released Ukrainian captives, all with shaven heads, celebrating their release and wrapped in Ukrainian flags.
Ukrainian media outlet Espreso TV published a video of the wife of a prisoner crying tears of joy, wrapped in a flag on Kyiv's Independence Square. She said she had been waiting for her husband's release since 2022, and had just received the call from Ukrainian authorities confirming the good news.
"We waited, hoped and fought," said the woman, whose name was given as Victoria.
Massive Russian attack of drones and missiles on Ukraine injure eight
06:15
,
Arpan Rai
At least eight people were injured after Russia attacked Ukraine's capital Kyiv early today with drones and missiles, triggering fires, strewing debris in districts throughout the city, the city's mayor said.
Reuters reported successive waves of drones flying over Kyiv and a series of explosions jolting the city.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two residents had required hospital treatment and that air defence units were in action.
Pictures posted online showed smoke billowing from the top of one block of flats and flames leaping from part of another as emergency crews trained water on it.
An orange-red glow lit up the city as plumes of smoke wafted across the horizon.
Mr Klitschko said fragments from one drone struck the top floor of an apartment building in the Solomynskyi district on the west bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the city. One apartment building was on fire in the area as was one non-residential building.
Photos show scale of Russian attack on Ukraine overnight
06:10
,
Arpan Rai
In pictures: Ukrainian prisoners return home
06:00
,
Arpan Rai
Russia released 390 Ukrainian prisoners on Friday including 120 civilians in part of the first stage of a prisoner of war exchange with Ukraine.
Ukraine also returned 390 Russian prisoners, who will undergo medical treatment in Belarus before returning home.
We are bringing our people home. The first stage of the “1000-for-1000” exchange agreement has been carried out. This agreement was reached during the meeting in Türkiye, and it is crucial to implement it in full.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 23, 2025
Today – 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the… pic.twitter.com/OPIXycWcbA
Putin says he wants boost to Russian arms exports
05:45
,
Arpan Rai
Russia needs to strengthen its position in the global arms market by increasing exports of weapons, country’s president Vladimir Putin said.
In televised remarks, he also said the country's military complex needs more state support to develop its potential.
"The portfolio of orders for Russian military products is now serious. It is tens of billions of dollars. And it is necessary to actively increase the volume of export deliveries," Mr Putin said.
He also singled out weapons that utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI).
"The future of the global arms market lies with such technology. Strong competition will unfold here, and is already unfolding, for which we must be prepared," Mr Putin said.
Former Ukrainian commander says Ukraine cannot regain all lost territory
05:28
,
Arpan Rai
Former Ukrainian commander and now ambassador to the UK, Valery Zaluzhnyi, said Ukraine should abandon hope of regaining all territory lost to Russia.
"I hope that there are not people in this room who still hope for some kind of miracle or lucky sign that will bring peace to Ukraine, the borders of 1991 or 2022, and that there will be great happiness afterward," Zaluzhnyi said in a speech published by the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet on Friday.
"My personal opinion is that the enemy still has resources, forces and means to launch strikes on our territory and attempt specific offensive operations.”
Russia occupied the Crimea peninsula in 2014, and its armed forces now control about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Russia's Lavrov vows response to drone attacks on Moscow
05:24
,
Arpan Rai
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said Ukraine will be held responsible for drone attacks on Moscow.
The Russian minister said the surge of Ukrainian drone attacks – some 800 sent against Russian targets over the last three days – was "a direct consequence" of support for Ukraine by European Union countries whose leaders visited Kyiv in recent days.
"We are certain that they will be held accountable for their share of responsibility for these crimes," Mr Lavrov said, referring to the European countries.
"This is clearly an attempt to disrupt peace talks and undermine progress made in Istanbul following the agreements between the presidents of Russia and the United States... We will continue this work no matter what provocations there may be."
Russia wasting time with 'so-called' peace memorandums, says Zelensky
05:10
,
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Russian leader Vladimir Putin of wasting the world’s time by delaying the peace process.
“When Russia takes a whole week just to come up with a so-called ‘memorandum’ as their response to calls for a ceasefire – this is nothing but mockery of the entire world. So much time wasted,” he said in his nightly address.
“Every day of this war costs lives. Of course, in Russia, lives don’t count. But the world must count them. New sanctions against Russia are needed. I thank everyone who is advocating for this,” he said.
Today, 390 people are back home – both military and civilians. Tomorrow and the day after – the next stages will follow. The formula is “a thousand for a thousand.”
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 23, 2025
What matters most is that Ukraine is bringing its people home. I thank everyone around the world who is helping.… pic.twitter.com/bIjIwOwo7w
Russia's Lavrov says will present peace accord draft after prisoner exchange
04:42
,
Arpan Rai
Russia will be ready to hand Ukraine a draft document outlining conditions for a long-term peace accord once a prisoner exchange now under way is completed, country’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Mr Lavrov, in statements on his ministry's website, said Russia was committed to working out a peaceful settlement in the more than three-year-old war pitting Moscow against Kyiv.
Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners yesterday and said they would free more in the coming days, an initiative agreed in talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Turkey last week.
"We remain committed to a peace settlement. We are always open to talks...and let me stress that we are committed to the agreements that were achieved recently in Istanbul," Mr Lavrov said.
"We are working actively on the second part of the agreements which call for preparation by each side of a draft document setting out the conditions for achieving a reliable, long-term agreement on a settlement,” he said.
"As soon as the exchange of prisoners of war is completed we will be ready to hand to the Ukrainian side a draft of such a document which the Russian side is now completing,” the Russian minister said.
Russian hackers target Western firms shipping aid to Ukraine, US intelligence says
04:30
,
Arpan Rai
Hackers working for Russian military intelligence targeted Western technology and logistics companies involved in shipping assistance to Ukraine, the US National Security Agency said.
The hackers were trying to obtain details about the type of assistance entering Ukraine and, as part of the effort, sought access to the feeds of internet-connected cameras near Ukrainian border crossings, according to the NSA's report on the cyberattack, which was issued late Wednesday.
The cyber campaign sought to penetrate defense, transportation and logistics companies in several Western countries, including the US, as well as ports, airports and rail systems. The report didn’t specify which types of aid Russia was surveilling, but Ukraine’s allies have contributed significant amounts of military and humanitarian assistance since the war began.
Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners of war
04:02
,
Arpan Rai
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend that will make it the largest swap of the war.
Russia's defence ministry also confirmed the swap and said it received the same number from Ukraine.
The swap took place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.
The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian defence ministry said.
As the freed men entered the medical facility yesterday, people holding signs and photos of their relatives shouted names or brigade numbers, seeking any news of a loved one."
Vanya!" cried Nataliia Mosych, among the gathered relatives, "My husband!"
The exchange, the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians at one time, didn't herald any halt in fighting on the war frontline.
Russian drones and missiles on Ukraine injure eight
03:57
,
Arpan Rai
At least eight people were injured after Russia attacked Ukraine's capital Kyiv early today with drones and missiles, triggering fires, strewing debris in districts throughout the city, the city's mayor said.
Reuters reported successive waves of drones flying over Kyiv and a series of explosions jolting the city.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two residents had required hospital treatment and that air defence units were in action.
Pictures posted online showed smoke billowing from the top of one block of flats and flames leaping from part of another as emergency crews trained water on it.
An orange-red glow lit up the city as plumes of smoke wafted across the horizon.
Mr Klitschko said fragments from one drone struck the top floor of an apartment building in the Solomynskyi district on the west bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the city. One apartment building was on fire in the area as was one non-residential building.
Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said a fire had also broken out on two floors of an apartment building in Dniprovskyi district on the opposite bank.
Officials also reported a fire in Obolon in the city's northern suburbs and fallen debris on a shopping centre in the same area. They said drone fragments hit the ground in a number of other widely separated neighbourhoods.
An air alert remained in effect more than two hours after it was first declared.
The overnight strikes followed several days of some 800 attacks on targets inside Russia, including capital Moscow.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had vowed yesterday to respond to those attacks.
In pictures: Ukraine welcomes 390 returned prisoners
03:00
,
Rachel Clun
'We waited, hoped': Families wait for returned Ukrainian prisoners
02:00
,
Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted photographs of the 390 released Ukrainian captives, all with shaven heads, celebrating their release and wrapped in Ukrainian flags.
Ukrainian media outlet Espreso TV published a video of the wife of a prisoner crying tears of joy, wrapped in a flag on Kyiv's Independence Square. She said she had been waiting for her husband's release since 2022, and had just received the call from Ukrainian authorities confirming the good news.
"We waited, hoped and fought," said the woman, whose name was given as Victoria.
Germany's Merz inaugurates a historic new Nato brigade in Lithuania in face of worries about Russia
01:00
,
Rachel Clun
Trump heralds prisoner swap - before it takes place
Saturday 24 May 2025 00:01
,
Rachel Clun
Earlier on Friday US President Donald Trump heralded the Ukraine and Russia prisoner swap, before it had been completed.
“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine,” he wrote on Friday morning US time.
“It will go into effect shortly. Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???”
Trump’s involvement in Ukraine peace talks ‘giving Putin more power’, Yulia Navalnaya says
Friday 23 May 2025 23:30
,
Bryony Gooch
Yulia Navalnaya has said Donald Trump’s negotiations with Russia on Ukraine are making Vladimir Putin “feel stronger”.
The Russian activist and widow of the late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny said Trump speaking to the Russian president “like they’re equal” is making him more powerful.
She made the remarks while speaking at a sold-out event with Alastair Campbell at Wales’ Hay Festival on Friday, which The Independent is once again partnering with.
Athena Stavrou reports live from Hay Festival:
WATCH: Russia is making a mockery of entire world, says Zelensky
Friday 23 May 2025 23:11
,
Bryony Gooch
Major prisoner exchange a small sign of progress
Friday 23 May 2025 23:00
,
Associated Press
A major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine began Friday, the countries said, in one of the few signs of progress from their direct talks last week in Istanbul — part of a US-led effort that so far has failed to produce a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first phase of the exchange was bringing home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said each side had released 270 military personnel and 120 civilian detainees.
But there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks.
