Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war. Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia’s Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each on Saturday, and 390 on Friday — the biggest total swap of the war. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Sunday’s exchange, saying on X that “303 Ukrainian defenders are home.” He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the “Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.” Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brother’s return. “My uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here,” she told The Associated Press. “A moment like that stays with you forever.” Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange on Friday. “We were worried about all the guys. He wasn’t there on Friday, but I was here — I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.” In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks. Largest aerial attack of the war The scale of the onslaught was stunning — Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force. In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century, Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia — a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia. “These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday’s targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions. “America’s silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages” Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. “Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.” Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. ‘Sleepless night’ Sounds of […]