Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow and Kyiv’s 190 PoW swap ‘unexpected’ as North Korea troops arrive in Russia
It comes as thousands of North Korean troops arrive in Russia, according to South Korean intelligence
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Moscow and Kyiv released 95 prisoners of war (POWs) each in an “unexpected” prisoner swap on Friday.
The deal, in which 190 POWs were released in total, was brokered by the United Arab Emirates, according to AFP news agency.
Human rights activist and journalist Maksym Butkevych said the swap was a surprise, explaining that he thought he was being transported to a different prison.
“I didn’t know, it was unexpected,” he said. “Yesterday morning, after the inspection, they told me that I was leaving in half an hour, but they didn’t tell me where. Accordingly, I packed my things because I thought I was being transported, not for an exchange. We found out about the exchange by accident on the way. It was a double surprise.”
Confirming the news, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: "Every time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we get closer to the day when freedom will be returned to all who are in Russian captivity.”
It comes as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement that Russian navy ships had transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok earlier this month.
Trump blames Zelensky and Biden – but not Putin – for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Don’t tremble at Putin’s threats, Zelensky urges West as Ukraine seeks backing for ‘victory plan’
Putin introduces bizarre new law to tackle Russia’s declining birth rate
The alarming numbers behind North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal
In pictures: Ukrainian POWs reunite with their families
Ukrainian NATO admission would rule out diplomatic solution to war, Russia says
Ukraine’s accession to NATO would make a diplomatic and political resolution to the conflict impossible, Russia’s foreign ministry said according to the RIA state-owned news agency.
It would ultimately lead to an escalation in the war, the ministry said on Saturday morning.
Ukrainian president Zelensky has been pushing hard in recent months for the war-torn country’s accession to NATO to be guaranteed. He went on a whirlwind tour to present his ‘victory plan’ to allies in the West, including US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Keir Starmer, which puts NATO accession front-and-centre of any possible Ukrainian victory.
Telegram channels share video of ‘attack on Russian factory'
Telegram channels are sharing videos of what appears to be a drone attack on a Russian factory in Bryansk.
The Kremniy factory is a plant used in the defence industrial base and this would mark the fourth time the facility has come under attack, according to Radio Liberty, a US-government-funded media organisation.
Products produced by the factory are used in the creation of Pantsir air defence systems and Iskander missile systems, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said that thirteen drones were shot down over the Bryansk region, two over the Rostov region and one over the Belgorod region.
They later reported a drone attack on an uninhabited building, adding that “no fire has started”.
The world is at a dangerous moment as conflicts spread, UN rights chief says
The U.N. human rights chief warned Thursday that the world is at an especially dangerous moment in history, with disregard and disrespect for international law “reaching a deafening crescendo.”
Volker Türk said conflicts are spreading and intensifying and humanitarian and human rights laws are being “trampled amid broad impunity.”
The UN high commissioner for human rights spoke about this critical moment “for human life, for human rights and for the stability and prosperity” of countries to reporters Thursday and in a briefing to the General Assembly’s human rights committee on Wednesday.
The world is at a dangerous moment as conflicts spread, UN rights chief says
The U_N_ human rights chief is warning that the world is at an especially dangerous moment in history, with disregard and disrespect for international law “is reaching a deafening crescendo.”
Türk said the reason the world is in such a crisis of conflicts and violations of international law is because the international structures that were painstakingly built after World War II and the Holocaust to protect human rights and prevent atrocities are starting to erode.
North Korea’s special forces in Russia 'ready to join Putin’s war in Ukraine’
South Korea’s spy agency has warned that North Korea has sent a battalion of troops to bolster Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
My colleague Rachel Hagan reports:
North Korea’s special forces ‘in Russia ready to join Putin’s war in Ukraine’
Reports suggest that North Korea could dispatch a total of 12,000 troops formed into four brigades to Russia
Starmer discusses expedited support for Ukraine with Biden, Scholz and Macron
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron joined Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz on Friday afternoon for talks focused largely on how to end the war in Ukraine as Russian forces advance in the east.
“We discussed how to speed up our support for Ukraine” Mr Starmer told reporters after the meeting. “So as Ukraine enters a difficult winter, it is important to say we’re with you.”
Russia and Ukraine swap 95 prisoners of war each
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 95 prisoners of war on Friday, in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, reported Agence France-Presse.
“As a result of the negotiation process, 95 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” the Russian defence ministry said.“In return, 95 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over,” it said.
The human rights centre Zmina confirmed that Ukrainian journalist and rights advocate Maksym Butkevych was also freed in this exchange. Butkevych was serving a 13-year sentence on charges of wounding two civilians while firing an anti-tank grenade launcher in the eastern city of Severodonetsk.
Butkevych told Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske that the exchange came without warning.
“No, I didn’t know, it was unexpected,” he said. “Yesterday morning, after the inspection, they told me that I was leaving in half an hour, but they didn’t tell me where. Accordingly, I packed my things because I thought I was being transported, not for an exchange. We found out about the exchange by accident on the way. It was a double surprise.”
Biden and Scholz ‘discuss unlocking frozen Russian assets’ for Ukraine
Joe Biden has urged the West to sustain its support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion as Kyiv faces a third winter of full-scale war.
Speaking to reporters before holding closed-door talks with chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin to discuss matters ranging from Ukraine to the expanding conflict in the Middle East, Mr Biden said: “As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must, we must sustain our resolve.
“And I know the cost is heavy, but make no mistake, it bears in comparison to the cost of living in a world where aggression prevails, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can.”
He said he would discuss with Mr Scholz efforts to increase military support for Ukraine and shore up its civilian energy infrastructure “by unlocking the value of frozen Russian assets”.
Trump blames Zelensky and Biden – but not Putin – for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Donald Trump held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Joe Biden responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war in an interview — but made no reference to Vladimir Putin.
Two and a half years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump pinned the blame squarely on Zelensky and Biden for the conflict during an interview with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, which aired Thursday.
“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen,” Trump said, grumbling about how much aid the US has given Ukraine.
“And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help them because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start,” the former president added.
“That war’s a loser.”
Trump blames Zelensky and Biden – but not Putin – for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
President Biden ‘instigated that war,’ Trump claimed during a podcast interview that aired Thursday
Ukraine's former armed forces chief endorses 'victory plan' in first speech since his dismissal
Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Thursday expressed his support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan,” despite the tensions between the two that led to his dismissal.
“Ukraine must clearly follow the plan,” Zaluzhnyi said in his first public appearance since his appointment as ambassador to the U.K.
He told an audience at London’s Chatham House think-tank: “But this list of steps primarily concerns those countries that should ultimately be interested in stopping the war.”
Susie Blann and Hanna Arhirova have the full report:
Ukraine's former armed forces chief endorses 'victory plan' in first speech since his dismissal
Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has expressed his support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan,” despite the tensions between the two that led to his dismissal in February
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