Ukraine, Russia Complete 1,000 for 1,000 Prisoner Exchange

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says final stage has been carried out in the largest swap yet between the warring countries

- AGENCIES

Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners Saturday as part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire.

The exchange came hours after Kyiv came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack and authorities said another combined aerial attack that started Saturday night and stretched into Sunday morning had left three people dead in the "Kyiv region," according to Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv regional military administration.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday that the final 303 Ukrainian captives scheduled to be released had been returned from Russia in the final stage of the largest-ever such swap between the warring countries.

"Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service are returning home," Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram app.